Governor Christie cuts the ribbon at the new education center at Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange.
Governor Christie returned to Essex County’s Turtle Back Zoo Tuesday morning to celebrate the opening of a new education center, which he helped raise funds for.
Christie cut the ribbon on the $7.5 million facility alongside County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, one of more than 50 Democrats who endorsed the Republican governor’s re-election bid last year.
Christie chaired the zoo’s 50th anniversary gala last year helping to raise $300,000 toward the project. The governor, who said he visited the zoo as a youth growing up in Livingston, has been a regular at ribbon cuttings and ground breakings at the facility. Last spring he cut the ribbon on the Sea Lion Sound exhibit and fed stingrays with his daughter Bridget and DiVincenzo. Last June was the gala and in September he attended the groundbreaking for the education center he celebrated the opening of on Tuesday.
Christie joked that “the last person” contractors want to work for is DiVincenzo because he makes sure projects are done on budget and on time.
“I feel like I was just here on the ground breaking and when he told me that we’re ready for the ribbon cutting I thought he was talking about something else, not this center,” Christie said.
The governor said that the state could use more places like Turtle Back Zoo and South Mountain Reservation, which also includes a miniature golf course and ice skating rink.
“I get upset, I walk into different places, restaurants and other places and I see entire families like sitting at a restaurant staring down at their phones,” he said. “I wonder, are they texting each other? Is that the way they communicate now? We need more places like this where families interact with each other and have a way to learn and grow and enjoy each other.”
The 12,000-square-foot education center provides the zoo with four additional classrooms for summer camp and programs, as well as six exhibit spaces and animal holding areas. The building serves as a second entrance to the zoo and the Treetop Adventure Course for large groups arriving by bus to improve safety and alleviate congestion at the main entrance.
The educational programs are being underwritten by a 10-year $500,000 grant from developer Marc Berson, a Millburn resident and chairman of The Fidelco Group.
The project was funded with grants from the Zoological Society of New Jersey and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust fund, as well as county funds, private donations and a loan from the Essex County Improvement Authority. The loan is to be repaid over five years.
DiVincenzo said 621,000 people visited the zoo last year, growing the facility’s revenue to $5.3 million.
“We’re going to continue to build and continue to grow because this is the place to be,” he said.
