Oakland Zoo, closed for a month due to sinkhole, set to reopen
The Oakland Zoo is set to reopen after a massive sinkhole caused its closure in early January.
“Construction crews have been hard at work on rebuilding our entrance road,” zoo officials said in a statement Monday, Jan. 30, that announced the plans to welcome guests back to the facility on Friday, Feb. 3.
Tickets and member reservations for regular daytime admission became available Tuesday, Jan. 31.
The rainstorms that swept through the Bay Area during the last week of 2022 caused the rupture of a culvert underneath the vehicle entrance to the zoo, linking to Arroyo Viejo Creek. Zoo officials said that the sinkhole was 10 feet wide and 10 feet deep.
“We had some of the most unprecedented storms — not only in terms of its volume but its velocity,” Nik Dehejia, president of the Oakland Zoo, told The Chronicle at the time of the closure. “The sheer volume, weight and speed of that water was not only falling into the culvert but over the culvert onto the pavement.”
The entrance was only one area of the zoo that suffered damage during the storms. The historic rains caused soil erosion, flooded several buildings, overburdened drainage systems, caused power outages and felled eucalyptus trees, according to a statement from the zoo.
Dehejia told The Chronicle that the zoo could lose upward of $1 million due to the storm damage, a tally that included the cost of repairs as well as revenue lost during the holiday season.
All the while, officials added, the 700 animals at the zoo were safe and staff continues to be on site to take care of them.
The popular Glowfari winter festival, which was drawing about 2,500 people a night with special exhibits and rides before the storms began, has been extended to run through March 4.