By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – The Buffalo Zoo returns to a spring schedule a little sooner than expected.
Last year, county budget cuts forced the zoo to shut down on Mondays and Tuesdays through the winter until April. But with 2006 funding restored to pre-crisis levels, the zoo goes back to a full week schedule beginning next week. Zoo President Donna Fernandes says with the first county check in, they're ready to take advantage of the good weather.
And the weather is about to break for the zoo's dormant Rain Forest project. Fernandes says, now that's she's back, the design should be complete by spring -- with construction possibly beginning by late fall.
"If we can do the demolition and get the shell of the building ready before the end of November, then we can work all winter long doing work," Fernandes said.
And she says that would put the project on schedule for completion in 2008.