Zoo admission rises outside county
Admission for many visitors to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has been increased this month, the first rate hikes at the institution in almost five years.
The changes took effect May 1 and affect residents who live outside of Franklin County, including residents of Delaware, Powell and Union counties, which are the zoo's closest neighbors.
Franklin County residents already support the zoo with a property tax and are not affected.
For those impacted, admission for adults, ages 10 to 59, was raised $3, from $21.99 to $24.99, an increase of 13.6%.
The rate for children (3 to 9) and seniors (60 and older) rose $2 from $16.99 to $18.99, an 11.7% increase.
The new rates were approved last month by the zoo board.
Franklin County residents will continue to pay $16.99 for adults and $11.99 for children and seniors. Kids under 3 are free.
Membership pricing is more complicated, with various pricing structures. But a typical family membership for non-franklin County residents rose from $139 to $169 per year.
Tom Schmid, the zoo's president and CEO, who started in December, said the increases make sense economically and should be understandable to the public given recent inflation concerns.
“If your admission price is flat and everything else you're purchasing is going up, that's pretty much an unsustainable business model,” he said.
Costs of animal feed, building products, fuel and other overhead continues to rise, he said, and the zoo recently increased its minimum wage for employees $2 to $13 per hour.
“Our goal is to get to $15 per hour by 2024,” Schmid said.
Schmid presented data to the zoo board last month showing that even with the increase, zoo admission is “still very affordable” compared to other zoos. And he noted that one year's membership can pay for itself in two visits.
“We're solidly in the middle of the pack,” he said at the time, pointing to a scatter plot diagram of other zoo admission rates nationwide.
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo charges $18 for adults, $14 for children and $16 for senior citizens.
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden has a variable rate depending on the day of the week, how far in advance tickets are purchased and even weather conditions, an employee there said. The range is $15.50 to $26 for those 13 to 61 years old; $9.50 to $20 (2-12) and $9.50 to $20 for seniors.
The Columbus rate hike comes on the heels of multiple controversies involving the zoo.
Last year, a Dispatch investigation revealed that former zoo CEO Tom Stalf and Greg Bell, the zoo's former chief financial officer, allowed relatives to live in houses owned or controlled by the zoo, and sought tickets for their family members to attend various entertainment events. They resigned in March 2021.
In April, the documentary, “The Conservation Game,” premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, revealing that public showings by employees from the Columbus zoo and others of tigers, leopards and other wild cats were not zoo animals, but instead those obtained by private breeders and unaccredited zoos.
In October, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums stripped the zoo of its accreditation.
Schmid said he's seen no evidence of the scandals affecting admissions. Last year's 2.2 million visitors to the zoo were slightly higher than average, he said.
“I think folks are smart enough to understand that we had four (people) who did things they shouldn't have done,” he said, referring to Stalf and Bell and two others they worked with. “It's a head-scratcher. They had great positions and were well-compensated. It's something that happens. At the end of the day, we'll be a stronger organization because of what happened.”
He said that his team is striving to be more transparent, “to lean toward sharing a lot more than we used to,” even though only about 20% of the zoo's operations, mostly dealing with animals, is considered public. dnarciso@dispatch.com @Deannarciso