Near zoo, residents in fear, wonder
They listen to the roar of the lions and the screech of the birds from their homes next to the 72-acre Franklin Park Zoo. And on Sunday night, some watched from their doorsteps with amusement or fear as a 300-pound gorilla named Little Joe roamed the street pursued by police and animal rescue workers with tranquilizer darts.
"I was worried yesterday, and I'm still worried today," said Jojanna Pimentel, who was picking up her three children at a bus stop near the zoo. "The zoo is so important to these kids. I want them to be able to go whenever they want."
Neighbors of the zoo, including some of its strongest supporters and fiercest critics, expressed mixed feelings yesterday about living next door to the 88-year-old attraction.
Some describe it as a panoply of sights and sounds, overpriced pretzels, special attractions, and throngs of people who drop in for a day before leaving as soon as the park closes.
While some in the neighborhood expressed frustration with the high admission price ($9.50 for adults and $5 for children ages 2 to 15), others said the zoo attracts a devoted corps of locals.
"Most people in the community don't go to Franklin Park," said Mike Odom, a barber at Fancy Cuts on Humboldt Avenue about three blocks from the zoo. "We got white folks who use the park, but we don't use it because it costs too much to get in."
Other residents said zoo officials make a strong effort to reach out to the community. A group called Friends of the Franklin Park Zoo raises money to provide about 80 families with free membership passes.
The zoo also holds sleepovers for local groups and science programs for children.
It employs 45 to 75 teenagers during the summers, said Walter Little, president of Friends of the Franklin Park Zoo.
"With the money crunch the zoo is going through, we really want to get people more involved," Little said. "We don't want the zoo there in isolation. It's such an important resource that people don't appreciate sometimes."
When her 6-year-old son, Charlie, was younger, Christine Poff said she took him to the zoo every week to watch the rabbits and explore the zoo's indoor tropical forest. On one of their first visits, they saw a peacock that came up and ate a soft pretzel in her son's hand, Poff said.
Despite the gorilla escape Sunday, she said she would not think twice about visiting the zoo.
"Am I scared? Not for a minute," Poff said.
But at least one family plans to curtail their zoo visits: that of 2-year-old Nia Scott, who was attacked by the gorilla during his flight for freedom.
While in the hospital, Scott rejected a friend's gift of a large, blue stuffed dog because she was afraid to be close to any more animals, said Shantel Isidore, a family friend.
"She started screaming and threw the dog on the floor," Isidore said. Still some residents say too much attention was paid to Little Joe and not enough to their neighborhood's day-to-day problems such as poverty and occasional gang shootings along Blue Hill Avenue."One gorilla escapes from the zoo, and that's what people want to write about," said William Smith, 28, a father of two who is active in antiviolence efforts. "But there's constantly people getting shot and murdered. I think twice about bringing my daughter outside."
