GREEN BAY (NBC26) — Green Bay City Council has approved spending more than $300,000 in donations to hire Kansas-based WDM Architects to develop a new master plan for the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.
Take a look inside the sanctuary in the video below:
The city's Parks Committee members say the master plan for the popular wildlife sanctuary has not been updated in over 40 years.
Stacey Roberts, a Suamico resident who has been visiting the sanctuary regularly since April, appreciates the facility's ongoing improvements.
"Every time that I come, I always notice something new that they do," Roberts said.
Roberts began visiting the sanctuary while recovering from hip and knee surgery.
"I needed to get out and about," Roberts said.
Her childhood friend, Jill Letto, who joined her in feeding the geese Friday morning, says she values the sanctuary's mission.
"My favorite part of this whole thing is they take care of animals that we can't," Letto said.
WDM Architects, which has previously worked on the Menominee Park Zoo in Oshkosh and the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, plans to complete their design by next June.
Green Bay Alderperson Melinda Eck, who serves on the Parks Committee, sees the project as an opportunity for comprehensive improvements.
"Look at it as a blank slate... The wildlife sanctuary is spread out... I think that it could definitely use some work to make it seem like it's all one cohesive development," Eck said.
The city is considering improvements to cage exhibits, buildings, walkways, and parking areas.
"It's better than kind of, like, adding this and that and changing something without having, like, an end goal in mind," Eck said.
"I hope they just keep adding more because there isn't another place like this," Letto said.
Residents with ideas for the sanctuary are encouraged to contact the Parks Committee or the city's Parks Department.
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