Old Florida Lee County roadside attraction sees new life after Hurricane Ian

Neil Anderson spent the majority of his lengthy zoological career in landlocked Wisconsin before becoming CEO of Wonder Gardens in Bonita Springs in August 2022. Just six weeks into his tenure, Hurricane Ian made landfall and a 3.5-foot storm surge from the nearby Imperial River flooded the 3-acre property. 

“You had to climb your way across the whole property. It really was a disaster in there,” Anderson reflects, “Where do you even begin?”

Approximately 15 staff members followed a hurricane plan to protect 180 rescued birds and reptiles at the nonprofit zoological park and botanical garden. “We put animals wherever you could think you could put them — from the bathrooms to up in the entrance building, the gift shop area, back in my office here in the administration building,” Anderson says. Even the flamingos managed to hitch a ride to a staff member's house to ride the storm out in their garage.

Courtesy image

Since the park’s opening in 1936, the only previous hurricane damage was minor wind damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017. The casualties of Ian included a single duck and some koi that had spilled from the pond, and the damage to the grounds resulted in about $100,000 in insurance claims on behalf of the park. The damage to the buildings was the financial responsibility of the City of Bonita Springs, which owns the property.

It took 30 hours for the storm waters to recede. From there, hundreds of volunteers showed up from all over the country to help with cleanup. “Now you have all that brackish water, right? Going through all the vegetation and everything,” Anderson explains. “Oh, it was just a mess. We literally took out a third of a football field, 10 feet high, of debris.”

Three weeks later, the park reopened to a weather-worn public.

Now, two years on, conversations about upgrades to the park that began prior to the storm are back in full swing to the tune of $10 million in projects occurring over the next decade. “We started a new planning process, a new master plan for this facility of what we call Renew the Wonder,” Anderson says. 

With the goal of maintaining its Old Florida charm, the plan includes an animal care facility, a canopy shaded boardwalk and an event hall — to name a few of the planned amenities. It’s not only about preserving the legacy of the last nine decades, but anticipating crowds for the next nine decades.

“Adversity,” Anderson says, “It doesn't build character, it reveals character. And going through that experience together with the staff, the volunteers, the community, really revealed what we really had.”