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If a hotel is built as envisioned in the Gladys Porter Zoo Master Plan, it won’t be on the former Cummings Middle School property that the city of Brownsville is preparing to buy from the Brownsville Independent School District for $16 million.
That’s according to Brownsville Mayor John Cowen Jr., City Manager Helen Ramirez, and the master plan itself, created by PJA Architects of Seattle, Washington. The hotel/restaurant/retail space presented as an alternative in the master plan would be erected on city-owned property that includes East Pierce Street just northeast of Cummings, which now houses BISD’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center.
The city needs the Cummings property to expand the zoo’s animal exhibits, which is required by the national Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) for the zoo to maintain critical accreditation. Losing AZA accreditation would mean the end of the zoo’s renowned breeding program for endangered species, dealing a major blow to the zoo, an economic generator that draws 450,000 visitors a year, Ramirez said.
BISD has agreed to sell the property, which the city will then lease back to the district (for $1 a month) until a new, larger CTE center is ready to occupy. The city has agreed to help BISD into a better CTE facility elsewhere that can accommodate an expanded program and more students. BISD Superintendent Jesus Chavez and the district’s Board of Trustees have expressed excitement over the prospect of a new CTE center.
The zoo is officially designated a public park, and its expansion would carry the same designation, Ramirez said, adding that the city plans to issue certificates of obligation this month to pay for the Cummings property. Under state law, the city is forbidden to build a hotel or other strictly commercial entity on the land, she said.
“We’re actually limited with what we can do when we buy a property for park use,” Ramirez said.
She added that everything in the master plan is still conceptual at this juncture, since master plans tend to be conceptual in nature.
“Master plans are conceptual time until such time as the project can be funded,” Ramirez said. “Then you go into detailed design. You have to have a long-term master plan, and as you have funding you implement it.”
Doing what’s necessary to save the zoo, meanwhile, is a “very positive thing,” she said, adding that the deal is a win for the zoo, the city and the school district equally. It reflects Ramirez’s “one city” vision for Brownsville, she said.
“The city, the zoo and BISD, together we’re stronger, and we just need to keep working together as one city to become even more successful,” Ramirez said.
Cowen said the city’s deal with BISD is not so a hotel can be built.
“It had nothing to do with the Cummings property, because the Cummings property can only be used for zoo-related purposes,” he said.
Still, Cowen said he believes the plan’s alternative for a hotel outside the Cummings property is a good concept.
“They came up with an idea to create more of a draw for the zoo, to add a hotel and commercial area, so that visitors can stay there and obviously stay in the Mitte Cultural District,” Cowen said. “It’ll create more of a tourism draw, which obviously benefits the zoo and benefits the city.”
The mayor said he understands why there may be confusion about which property the hotel would be located on, citing “some misinformation on social media” following an Aug. 28 community forum highlighting the master plan.
“I think the more transparency we can provide, I think the more people understand why all these things make sense,” Cowen said.
Pat Burchfield, executive director of the zoo, said he’s thrilled with BISD’s decision to support the zoo expansion project, calling it a huge milestone for the institution and its “mission of conservation, education, research and healthy outdoor recreation.”
“Enhanced and expanded facilities for our animals are needed to keep pace with the ever-increasing level of excellence in animal care required to maintain (AZA accreditation),” Burchfield said.
The Cummings property acquisition will allow the zoo to nearly double in size, making possible an “African savanna” exhibit featuring a watering hole for giraffes and other hooved animals, plus a forested exhibit offering spacious habitat for two groups of West African lowland gorillas.
The master plan also calls for a new zoo entrance complex and a multilevel parking garage to compensate for surface parking that would be lost to the expansion of animal exhibits. The Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation is expected to be a “key community partner” in helping support the expansion project, according to the city.
