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Paul Blart, mall cop, to report to Franklin Park Zoo

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 9, 2009 07:38 PM

(Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

By Meghan Irons, Globe Staff

Making the trek from Birds' World to Serengeti Crossing recently became a little more arduous at the Franklin Park Zoo.

Kevin James as Paul Blart

Instead of a direct path, visitors must now make their way around a massive movie set -- a fake zoo within a real zoo -- in one of the main walkways through the exhibits.

There, on a portion of the unused outdoor gorilla exhibit near the zoo's rear entrance, crews have been laying the groundwork to begin filming the MGM comedy “The Zookeeper,” starring Kevin James.

The set is forcing patrons in the back of the zoo to make their way to the other exhibits by walking through the tropical forest, which features Little Joe and the other gorillas, or on another side trail.

“It’s a little inconvenient,’’ said Mary Ward, a Cambridge nanny, with her young charge in tow.

John Linehan, president of Zoo New England, said zoo officials have created alternate routes that lead patrons around the set site. No exhibits have been shut down because of the movie’s presence, he said, and National Night Out celebrations, hosted by the Dorchester zoo each year along with the police, will go on as planned in August. Filming is scheduled to begin July 20 and end in October.

Linehan said the zoo has received no complaints since workers began building the movie set more than two months ago.

“I’ve heard people who are sort of blown away by the fact,’’ he said. “They’ve been quite taken aback by seeing how elaborate the set construction is.”

The financial impact has been good as well. Linehan and the movie’s producer, Charles Newirth, said the zoo received a “substantial’ location fee -- though neither would say how much.

The city’s Parks and Recreation Department also got a boost and is getting $20,000 from the movie “strictly for Franklin Park,’’ said Mary Hines, the department’s spokeswoman.

Newirth said Franklin Park Zoo was picked because a number of people in the film were also involved in other productions based in the Boston area, including “Paul Bart: Mall Cop,’’ which also stars James and was filmed at the Burlington Mall.

“The zoo worked for us,’’ Newirth said. “It just has a lot of elements that we needed.’’
Newirth said filming will take place both day and night.

The movie will star Rosario Dawson and James, who plays a lonely zookeeper who can’t get a woman but gets mating advice from the animals.

Early this week, crews were building the make-believe zoo. A giant stone wall, with elaborate features, towered beyond the dumpsters and yellow-taped barricade. Telescopes, some still in their packaging, were on the ground. Workers on their ladders were installing street lamps.

Children with their parents did double-takes as the passed the movie set, emitting “oohs’’ and “aahs.”

“Wow. This is incredibly awesome,’’ said Marysa Lee, who was with her younger sister, Samantha, and father, Darren -- all regular zoo visitors.

“It think it’s really amazing,’’ she said. “It’s real stone. They’ve got the gazebo thing going.”

Brent Worry, visiting with friends from Auburn, Maine, said he was also wowed. “I’m kind of in awe about it,’’ he said. “It caught my attention.”

No one seemed to mind that the set is taking up residence in the middle of a main walkway.
“From the looks of it, it’s out of the way,’’ said Joshua Laboy of Mattapan with his two children.

“It’s not taking up too much space -- all it does is takes up the front of the tropical forest.”

But other patrons said walking around the set site can be a drag, if only a little.

“Just a little bit’’ admits Ward. “But it’s not a big deal.”

Maria Cramer of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Meghan Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com.