Organizers working to create a zoo for the Huntsville area say they want to put it in voters’ hands to determine how to fund the $65 million project.

The North Alabama Zoological Society, or NALZS, was founded in 2019 with the goal of eventually opening a world-class zoo in north Alabama. The group hosts education and conservation events as it continues to rally support and raise funds for the project.

Executive Director Ethan Woodruff said the job is too large, however, for fundraising.

“There’s a recipe for how this is done,” he said. “There’s not enough donations to build a zoo. You can start grassroots fundraising, but until local governments get involved with public funding, it really doesn’t happen.”

The group is currently lobbying to get a proposal before voters for a 30-year bond issue of $65 million, and a 3% utility tax to pay for costs.

NALZS enlisted Perry Becker, the same firm involved in the planning for Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and BRPH, an award-winning zoo architectural firm, to design the project. The proposed zoo would call for a 250 to 300-acre installation to allow space for animals, infrastructure, attractions and eventual expansion. By contrast, Birmingham Zoo is situated on 122 acres.

It would likely be situated in Limestone County near Buc-Ee’s.

Woodruff said the large footprint is needed as many zoos nationwide are experiencing problems being landlocked in metropolitan areas. With the rapid expansion of the Huntsville metro, a lot of acreage makes sense.

If a funding proposal is approved, it would take about three years before visitors could see the animals. Woodruff said the proposal has met with some opposition, but also support.

“When people read the proposal, you see some of those opinions change,” he said. “We knew when we put it out there, with that three-letter word tax in there, it would blow up. It didn’t blow up as much as we thought.”

Woodruff said he got involved with the zoo effort after visiting the Birmingham Zoo with his daughter, and wondering why Huntsville didn’t have something similar.

“This is a great thing for quality of life,” he said.

“What we’ve got to do now is get it before the people so they can vote on it,” Woodruff said. “We’re asking the public to chip in to do this. They have to have a say in it. This is too big an ask for elected officials.”