COAL VALLEY, Ill. (AP) — A report commissioned by the Niabi Zoological Society says a nonprofit should run the western Illinois zoo instead of the Rock Island County Forest Preserve.
The society commissioned the study to help determine if a new $8 million fundraising effort is feasible. The (Moline) Dispatch reports that those interviewed for the study said they would donate if reforms were made to weaken county control.
The society is a private group that raises money for the county-owned zoo. It wants to raise the money to improve the zoo and regain accreditation it lost in 2012.
The report proposes a new nonprofit be created to manage the zoo.
Forest Preserve President Steve Ballard says he doesn’t think it would be a good idea for a new nonprofit to run the zoo.
