John Ball Zoo swings wide its gates on March 1, and visitors will see a whole herd of changes in the works this summer: a new entrance plaza with new restrooms, an expanded gift shop and a first-ever
funicular to take folks up the hill to a new children's play area and a "tree" house created for special events. As a result of the changes, the zoo has added 24 seasonal positions to its usual requirement of 120 workers, and so is looking for 144 people to fill an array of jobs.
The list of positions is long and varied. For example, because the new gift shop is triple the size of the old one, there's a need for more cashiers and stockers. The zoo will also need people to run the funicular and to staff the tree house (which isn't actually a tree house, but a new banquet and event space in the Idema Forest Realm). Other folks will operate an increased number of food carts that will be located on the hilltop, and the zoo needs guides for the nature trails in the Idema Forest Realm.
'We get a lot of college students [applying for jobs], because we offer a whole variety of positions in different fields like food service, marketing, retail, physical education, biology and zoology," says Brenda Stringer, executive director of The
John Ball Zoo Society. "A lot of times, people who work for us in seasonal positions often end up working for us when full-time positions open up."
The bulk of the jobs run from May through August, but some jobs begin in March and April while some end in September or October.
Stringer says the zoo has 420,000 visitors a year who infuse the Grand Rapids economy with some $30 million annually. The projects already under construction will come in at about $7 million in enhancements. Over the next couple of years, other plans include renovating the grizzly bear exhibit and building a new tiger exhibit and a children's tree house on the hilltop.
To find out more or to submit an application,
click here. Jobs opportunities will be updated throughout the coming weeks.
Construction manager: Owen-Ames-Kimball
Architect/design: Progressive AE
Source: Brenda Stringer, John Ball Zoo Society
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
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