Gladys Porter Zoo Needs a New Home

By Diego Garcia III ★ Editor of The Brownsville Beacon

It breaks my heart to see friends posting vacation pictures on Facebook showing them visiting zoos in San Antonio and Houston. I would always scratch my heart and wonder why they'd go out of their way to visit a zoo when we have a zoo here in town.

After looking into the way out zoo is maintained, I can't say I blame them.

The Gladys Porter Zoo is in a sad state of disrepair. Built in 1971, it was once the crown jewel of Brownsville's tourist industry. One of the advantages to the Gladys Porter Zoo is the animals are not caged up in tiny, metal barred cells. Animals are able to roam free, or as free as an animal in captivity can roam short of being in a wildlife preserve.

The problem is the zoo is definitely showing its age. Several of the glass windows separating the animal habitats from the public are cracked and in need of repair.

However, the biggest problem with the zoo is space. There is little, to no, room for expansion. The zoo is surrounded by residential areas in two sides, the Fine Arts Museum and Linear Park on the other, and Dean Porter Park and BISD property across the street.

Brownsville should strongly consider relocating Gladys Porter Zoo to a new location. A good location for a new zoo would be where a theme park was planned across Mexico Boulevard from the old Amigoland Mall. There's plenty of land and there'd be plenty of room for parking.

Building the new Gladys Porter Zoo in the area would breathe new life into the area, once one of Brownsville's busiest. The train no longer cuts across Palm Boulevard — traffic congestion wouldn't be an issue.

If the area across from Amigoland isn't viable, maybe a larger spot could be found off the expressway. The new zoo wouldn't have to be built off Mexico Boulevard, but building it there would only relocate the zoo by a couple of miles.

More space could bring more animals, including elephants and polar bears, which no longer live at Gladys Porter. 

Brownsville has a lot to offer tourists. Our proximity to South Padre Island, birding centers and nature preserves, and authentic Mexican culture and food bring scores if Winter Texans and visitors to the area. Building a new zoo would just increase the tourism dollars.

The city could be so much more than it is now. A new zoo would help continue moving Brownsville forward.

Let's help keep those tourism dollars here in town.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Starcks, The Rabbs, and a Plantation House

Image
By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon If Brownsville were split into boroughs like New York City, Southmost would definitely be one of them. Southmost is one of the oldest parts of Brownsville, and has recently gained notoriety for having some of Brownsville's best authentic home-style Mexican restaurants. Vera's Backyard Bar-B Que was recently featured on The Texas Bucket List. Brownsville residents regularly make their way to taquerias and eateries on Southmost.  When I was an elementary school student, I was bused to Morningside Elementary for school. Our school bus always drove down Southmost, and I clearly remember passing by a drive-in theater on the way to school. Eventually, the drive-in would be torn down and an H-E-B would eventually be built around the area where the drive-in was. If you continue driving down Southmost past Morningside Road, Southmost begins twisting, turning, and curving. Eventually, you'll reach Sabal Palm Grove Road. Whe...
Read more

Forces Beginning to Align Against LNG Projects at the Port: Clupper, Port Isabel, Et al.

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission handed down their decision late last year — the three companies wanting to construct liquefied natural gas pipelines and terminals at the Port of Brownsville had the green light to continue with the process to begin constructing their infrastructure. The next step is for the companies to make their final investment decision (FID) in regards to physically beginning to build the plants and pipelines. Industry experts believed the project could have gotten off the ground as early as the first quarter of this year. The port is a huge moneymaker for the city and the state, as a whole. Statistics show the Port of Brownsville as the second ranked port for the value of exports and has been ranked third of almost 300 foreign trade zones in the United States. Studies also show over 50,000 jobs are either directly or indirectly supported by the port. The LNG plants were a big feather in the cap of the ...
Read more

Thoughts on Erasmo Castro and his Upcoming Candidacy for State Representative

By Diego Garcia III | Editor of The Brownsville Beacon The Erasmo Castro saga continues to hurl out of control. Like an obsolete, failing satellite falling out of orbit and plummeting back to earth, Castro announced his resignation from the Brownsville Independent School District board of trustees.  Castro's castle walls were constantly bombarded by his critics, by parents and citizens of Brownsville, and by other board members. Eventually, all the cannonades were able to break through the walls and Castro hoisted the white flag of surrender.  Social media, the Brownsville Blogosphere, and other online outlets, exploded a few hours ago as news of Castro's resignation hit the internet. The Brownsville Herald and KVEO posted articles saying Castro submitted his resignation letter this morning. According to his social media posts, Castro stated he would be resigning to take care of his "alleged Class B Misdemeanor Charge." His resignation letter reads: Dea...
Read more