Sedgwick County will apply for a nearly $5 million grant from the National Park Service to help expand the elephant barn at the Sedgwick County Zoo.
If the grant is approved, the county and Zoo will have to come up with the other $5 million needed to complete the project.
Construction on the new barn will begin in September of 2025 and will be completed in September 2026. It will provide an additional 19,500 square feet for the elephants, who will see their population increase with the birth of five elephant calves next year.
Also at Wednesday's meeting, we learned that the county's financial condition remains economically sound.
The county says they will have a $203 million surplus in their fund balance by the end of the year. However, pressures outside of the county's control remain, including high inflation, interest rates and the labor market.
Some of the other challenges include legislative decisions made at the federal and state level.