The Jacksonville Zoo & Botanical Gardens, will have a new entrance starting March 6, 2026. the $72 million structure is 25,000 square feet, and 50 feet tall at the highest peak. | Michelle Corum, Jacksonville Today
Published on February 27, 2026 at 3:21 pm
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The Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens showed off its new, soon-to-open entrance Friday — an impressive structure that’s 25,000 square feet and 50 feet tall at the highest peak.
Zoo CEO Jeff Ettling said the zoo will put the VyStar SkyScape to good use:
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“We can put about 1,000 people under here in the pouring rain,” Ettling said as he showed off the structure. “We had an event here a couple weeks ago (with Australian conservationist Robert Irwin) where we had 760 people seated comfortably. So we know what the capacity is. We can do another 200 upstairs in our event center. So, for us, this is not just a way to provide an entrance for our guests, but it’s also a way for us to generate revenue to help support our mission.”
Ettling says the entrance was shifted about 90 degrees to where the education camp used to be, and a walking loop prevents zoo-goers from having to double back to see all the exhibits.
“It’s gonna be awesome,” Ettling said. “I don’t know of another zoo that I’ve visited that has an entryway that is so significant like this. You know, most of the time, it’s just, ‘Here’s how you come in, how you exit.’ This really does give you a sense of arrival when you get to the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens, and we’re very proud.”
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Civic leaders, philanthropic partners, executives from VyStar and the zoo as well as zoo supporters were on hand Friday for a ribbon-cutting.
Manatees at the zoo
Zoo member Annette Negaard likes that the entrance includes a large shaded area with the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Manatee River rescue exhibit finally coming to fruition.
The entrance, the manatee exhbit and a new pathway through the zoo amount to $72 million in improvements.
“It’s a long time coming, and it’s great to see it as the first thing we see when we come in,” said Negaard. “It’s good to see the zoo progressing. It’s a world class organization, and I’m just happy to see it succeeding.”
When the new entrance opens to the public March 6, three manatees rehabilitating in the back pools will be introduced to the front entrance for the public to view. A state-of-the-art habitat with 330,000 gallons of water was built to support manatee rehabilitation and conservation education.
The habitat has the capacity to rescue and rehabilitate up to 20 manatees with critical care pools designed for rescue, recovery and release.
More than a million guests each year visit the zoo, one of Jacksonville’s most visited cultural spots.
