SUAMICO, Wis. (NBC 26) -- The NEW Zoo & Adventure Park has been closed for nearly three months. Thursday, they announced they will be reopening next Wednesday, June 10th at 9 a.m. in a series of phases. The Adventure Park will also remain closed until further notice.
There will be several visual reminders to guests visiting to give six feet of space to each other throughout the NEW Zoo. Tickets will have to be purchased online and there will be a cap of roughly 1,000 guests per day. On any given day in the summer, daily admission to the NEW Zoo is roughly 2,000 to 2,500 people.
Click here to learn more about entry information. Temporary hours will be from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily.
The NEW Zoo Director, Neil Anderson, says that they did the math on the square feet of the trails through the zoo, which is 79,000 sq. feet. They then divided it by 36 sq. feet which came out to 2,100 people. Anderson says that's how many people could walk through the zoo with the health guidelines in place, but adds that they wanted to start small and take it slow and see how social distancing through the zoo works.
The entrance and exit to the NEW Zoo will be different as well to make it a contact-less experience. Guests will enter through a wide gate on the left side of the Visitors Center. No entries through the Visitor Center building will be allowed.
The Mayan Restaurant will be closed to indoor seating and will feature an outdoor, walk-up window for to-go orders. At this time, zoo playgrounds, the Dahlin Express Train Ride, the Mining Sluice, the Endangered Species Carousel, the Giraffe Feeding Experience, and the Giraffe Discovery Center building will remain closed.
There will be several hand sanitizing stations throughout the Zoo. Staff will be wearing masks while inside the zoo. Guests are encouraged to wear masks, but they are not required. The restrooms will be opened with increased cleaning.
Anderson says they have been approved by the Brown County Administration and the Health Department, but that they've also been learning from other zoos across the nation to learn what is working for them and they plan to adjust as needed through the fluid situation of coronavirus.
