For decades, zoo a community effort
After a rocky start, Fla. project has flourished
BREVARD, Fla. – Three decades ago, the people of Brevard County, Florida, built a zoo of their own, in a volunteer effort similar to an Amish barn raising.
It all started three decades earlier as a makeshift wooden rabbit hutch that citrus farmer Floyd Houser built in 1965 for his grandkids at his West Melbourne fruit stand. Kids loved it, so did parents.
Houser could never have foreseen how far his humble hutch of rabbits would leap. The site eventually added big cats, even an elephant, to the delight of his and countless other grandchildren. The Brevard Zoo says it now welcomes more than 400,000 visitors annually, with 44% of them coming from outside the county, and that it brings in an annual economic impact exceeding $59.5 million.
After his death, Houser’s family eventually sold the land, and about 150 animals were shipped to other zoos around the country.
But David Mannes, who’d worked there since age 19, kept the dream of a local zoo alive.
“I never thought it would get so big, so fast,” said Mannes, one of Brevard Zoo’s pioneers. “I got to build my dream zoo.”
As Houser’s roadside attraction struggled in the mid-1980s, Mannes had heard rumors about local veterinarians who wanted to form a zoological society. He called them.
By late 1984, grassroots organizers – spearheaded by Mannes – incorporated the East Coast Zoological Society of Florida. They took possession of Houser’s animals in 1985 and leased his outdated facility for $1 per year after Houser fell ill.
After Houser’s death and the sale of his land, there were thoughts of building a zoo in nearby communities. Often, there were naysayer neighbors or threatened scrub jays in the way.
Mannes and his friends didn’t give up, and they adopted some of the animals. Mannes knocked on developer Jim Swann’s door, but Swann was initially not swayed by the idea of building a zoo.
Soon, though, the notion piqued Swann’s penchant for creating. He prodded influential friends.
“I’m a creator. That’s what I do for a living,” Swann said. “It’s fun.”
In February 1990, Swann wrote a letter describing his vision for the zoo, sending it to the zoo’s board and supporters.
That year, the Brevard County Tourism Development Council committed $2.5 million for zoo construction over 10 years via taxes on motel and hotel rooms. The Legislature earmarked $500,000, so long as the community raised $500,000 in matching funds. A Founders Society, boasting more than 300 members, also contributed matching funds.
Frank Vega, publisher of Florida Today at the time, also rallied community leaders. Vega recalled a meeting with two caretakers from Houser’s zoo, seeking a Gannett Foundation grant to move the animals.
Vega credits Cocoa Beach attorney Malcolm Kirschenbaum’s role in nudging the Duda family to donate the land for the zoo in 1990.
“That’s what kind of made it real,” Vega said. “Behind the scenes, he was critically important.”
In 1990, A. Duda and Sons donated the land where the zoo now stands on 72 acres, including about 20 acres of wetlands.
The community build began in March 1992 as volunteers started to build the “Paws On” petting zoo area and the Latin American animal loop.
During one bustling six-week stretch, 17,452 volunteers donated 84,808 man-hours during three work shifts, adding up to $678,464 in free labor. Volunteers sunk 800 poles into the ground and built boardwalks, gazebos, animal enclosures, four bridges and other attractions, using 350,000 screws and 374,000 nails. There were public pleas for power tools, hammers, shovels, gloves, babysitters and food servers – hungry volunteers devoured more than 20,200 meals.
But construction on the almost-finished zoo soon stalled because of financing problems. By the September 1992 target opening date, the zoo had only five miniature horses and a handful of goats.
A February 1993 Florida Today headline declared: “Zoo trapped in financing jungle.”
But by July of that year, zoo officials secured a $901,000 NationsBank loan to resume construction. Volunteer work resumed, and the facility was finished.
After the ribbon was cut on March 26, 1994, about 3,000 visitors explored Paws On and the Latin American animal exhibits. They marveled at howler monkeys, scarlet macaws, prehensile-tailed porcupines and standouts such as Onyx the black jaguar, Hoover the giant anteater and Butterball the screech owl.
Of Houser’s menagerie only Abigail, an Arabian donkey, made it to the new zoo. She took up residence in the Paws On petting area, alongside alpacas and a miniature horse.
The fledgling zoo’s payroll included about 20 full- and part-time employees. Now there are 179 full-time staff, bolstered by 46 part-time workers and 500 volunteers.
Wild Florida and the zoo train opened in 1995, and subsequent years added kayaking and Australian and Asian animals.
In a 2003 milestone, more than 800 volunteers helped build the $2.5 million Expedition Africa loop, featuring giraffes, primates and rhinos.
That was mostly Margo McKnight’s vision, which she sketched on paper. As the zoo’s director from 1998 to 2004, McKnight created an internationally recognized conservation program, made the zoo the first to create a “kayak through animal habitats” experience, and designed themed classrooms for Title I schools. She’s now the president and CEO of the Palm Beach Zoo.
Highlights at the zoo in recent years include addition of a bear habitat in 2019, a temporary lion habitat in 2022 and a preschool in 2023.
For Cheri Purnell, director of membership and first impressions, who has been involved with the zoo since Day 1, her career highlight was “seeing everybody coming together and really wanting to see the zoo succeed.”
The highlights happen every day, though.
“We bring people joy,” she said. “We’ve come a long way.”