Utica Zoo breaks ground on new welcome center

UTICA, N.Y. — The Utica Zoo broke ground Monday, July 11 on a $2.5 million project to expand its current gift shop and admissions building into a new welcome center.

“We’re very fortunate and blessed to have a zoo that is a destination not only for the city of Utica but for the region,” Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri said at a groundbreaking ceremony at the zoo. The new welcome center builds on the momentum of other projects in the area including the New York Power Authority’s John S. Dyson New York Energy Zone visitors center that opened up in 2021 adjacent to the zoo on Utica Zoo Way.

While the project is under construction, the zoo’s main gate is housed in the Energy Zone building.

The city is providing $2 million in funding for the project through its Utica Prosperity Initiative funded by American Rescue Act monies. The zoo received an additional $500,000 from New York State Consolidated Funding Application.

“The words game changer are too mild to say,” Utica Zoo Executive Director Andria Heath said. At more than twice the size of the existing building, the new welcome center will create an arrival experience for zoo visitors.

The project adds 3,953 square feet onto the existing 1,005-square-foot building. Inside amenities include a larger gift shop, a classroom for education and community events, ADA-compliant bathrooms, and an expanded storage area.

Zoo officials hope to open the new welcome center at the end of the year. Nelson Associates Architectural Engineering of Clinton is the project architect and Con Tech Building Systems, Inc. of Gouverneur is the general contractor.

The zoo is part of Roscoe-Conkling Park in Utica. Thomas R. Proctor gifted the land for the zoo in 1909, and it opened in 1914 with three fallow dear. Today, the zoo is home to more than 100 animals and has developed 35 of the 80 available acres.