The CMC Park & Zoo set records for attendance in 2021. The zoo is one of the few county departments that generates revenue, said Kevin Lare, the acting county administrator. For that year, those revenues were hit hard. Many of the donations are made when families visit the zoo, and a fraction of the normal number of people came in 2020.
That was not the case this year, when attendance broke records. That’s even compared to 2019, a record year for tourism in Cape May County.
“The zoo is on firm financial footing,” Lare said recently.
The zoo has continued to expand since its dedication in 1978, with a lion, spider monkeys, barnyard animals and some New Jersey wildlife. Big steps came with the opening of the African Savannah section in the 1990s, and the later construction of a reptile house and an indoor bird exhibit.
There are now more than 500 animals, with 250 different species at the zoo. That number expanded earlier this year with the addition of red kangaroos and two emus in the spring, along with other new arrivals.
County officials are considering plans for a new education and interpretive center in front of the zoo complex on Route 9.
According to Lare, funding for the proposal must still be approved by the Board of County Commissioners. He expects that to come in early 2022, with plans brought before the Middle Township Planning Board for a courtesy review.
On Nov. 16, he said, neighbors were invited to a public information session on the proposal. Lare said four people came.
Preliminary plans call for a new building on Route 9 near the main entrance to the park. Lare said the neighbors were the first to hear the plans.
The county looks at zoo attendance in two ways, counting the number of people entering the front gate and the number of cars. Most years, the zoo gets more than a half-million visitors, but this year was the highest number on record, according to a count recently released by the county.
The gate count for 2021 so far was 554,146, with 178,870 cars entering the park, which also includes playgrounds, walking trails, a gift shop, a small lake and other attractions. The park also is home to a tree-to-tree canopy tour each summer.
By both measures, park attendance this year broke records.
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