Lowry Park Zoo receives tax-free loan to build animal care complex

The Tampa City Council has approved providing up to $6.5 million in tax-exempt financing to assist the Lowry Park Zoological Society with capital improvements to Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo. The zoo says its strong financial operations and the number of campaign pledges already received qualified it to receive the loan from SunTrust Bank.

The Lowry Park Zoological Society plans to develop a new animal-care complex. The loan provides interim financing while the zoo continues to fundraise for the New Horizons Campaign, which it launched in late 2010. Just more than $7 million has been pledged to date.

Crews began site preparation in late 2012 for the new complex, located adjacent to the existing veterinary clinic. The first phases of new construction will include a 12,000-square-foot veterinary hospital and a 2,000-square-foot animal commissary building. Future construction will add a new 4,000-square-foot conservation center for the zoo's animal care staff and visiting researchers.