Bonita Springs City Council members are not pleased with the existing arrangement between the Wonder Gardens and the city. As a result city officials are pressing the Wonder Gardens organization to prioritize its capital improvements and start paying rent.
Located on Old 41, the Wonder Gardens is home to exotic birds, reptiles and plants. The business was owned and operated by the Piper family from 1936 to 2013. When the family sold it, members of the community formed Bonita Wonder Gardens (BWG), a not-for-profit group, to take over operations.
In 2015, the City of Bonita entered into a public-private partnership with BWG in which it provided the zoo a $3.5 million bridge loan to keep the organization open. BWG paid back $500,000. But it was unable to keep up with its payments, so the not-for-profit turned the land over to the city to make good on its loan.
Now the zoo wants to open an animal hospital, and council members feel like they were left out of the discussions.
“I think it’s all pie in the sky,” Bonita Springs Councilman Jesse Purdon said. “They need to figure out what their deal is with us first before we approve animal hospitals or anything else. They need to get right with us."
At a recent city council meeting, members expressed their frustration after BWG submitted its budget with a $2 million surplus and a list of improvements it wants to make. Purdon said $1.5 million was designated for the proposed hospital.
“If they want to build an animal hospital, okay, we can have that discussion,” he said. “But they don’t get to say, ‘I’m going to spend money on an animal hospital, so I’m doing capital improvements.’ Capital improvements, I think that bus is steered by us.”
But that’s not Purdon’s biggest qualm. He said the organization should not be raising funds for large additions when there are more pressing issues, like bringing the bathrooms to complete ADA compliance.
He said he would not consider another contract extension until it includes better communication with the city and a financial commitment for rent and capital improvement projects the city wants to see.
The city council has scheduled a November 1 workshop with the organization to address grievances.
“Any nonprofit in the state would love to occupy Imperial River frontage where $50 million has already been put in the ground,” Purdon said, referring to the city’s improvements downtown.
Councilman Fred Forbes echoed Purdon’s frustration about the not-for-profit leaving the city council out of discussions and said the proposed capital improvements will cost more than BWG thinks.
“And that is not fair to the people that are raising money and to the donators, to have them put something together that hasn’t even been talked over,” Forbes said.
Council member Laura Carr said the city needed to "iron out the issues" because the zoo had "fallen short" on its contractual agreements for years.
The most recent operating agreement, which was not renewed in 2021, requires BWG to pay $1 a year in rent. Improvements and developments that exceed $10,000 also require city council approval. Purdon said he believes it should be capped at $5,000.
He said he wants to make things right, but he wants a new operating agreement in place first, one that includes the not-for-profit paying rent and a commitment to capital improvements that the city sees necessary.
The Wonder Gardens issued a statement Tuesday:
"The Wonder Gardens is in contact with the City of Bonita Springs and we are looking forward to an upcoming City Workshop to discuss our masterplan and a public-private partnership to ensure the future of The Wonder Gardens in cooperation with the City. We are excited for the opportunity to collaborate and honor The Wonder Garden’s legacy as an iconic representation of Old Florida at its best, while ensuring its relevancy and sustainability as a beloved community institution in the heart of Bonita Springs," Neil Anderson, CEO of the Wonder Gardens, said.
"The support of the City allows us to update and expand the Wonder Gardens experience over the next 5 to 10 years, while continuing what makes the Wonder Gardens so special, including providing a legacy experience that parents and grandparents share with new generations; reflecting and celebrating the welcoming, small-town feel of Bonita Springs, and sharing intimate, up-close and personal engagements with emblematic native and exotic animals.'" Anderson added. "Pending input from the City, we look forward to enhancing all that makes the Wonder Gardens a much beloved community treasure that represents a link to the rich, cultural legacy of Bonita Springs.”
Bonita Springs resident Omar De La Garza, 26, has been a frequent visitor at the Wonder Gardens since he was a child. He said he likes it because it’s inexpensive and it has been at the current location for so long.
He thinks the zoo should communicate more with the city, but does not think the Wonder Gardens should be given an ultimatum about paying rent.
“It’s been here for a very long time,” De La Garza said. “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
Naples resident Caila Bourgeois has only been to the Wonder Gardens once, but she said she hopes the city and the zoo can come to an agreement.
“I think it’s nice because there’s not a ton to do around here,” she said. “If it’s been here for that long rent-free, I don’t see why anything should change.”
Former Deputy Mayor Mike Gibson, who was appointed while the last operating agreement was in effect, said the initial agreement was entered into to save the Wonder Gardens from being sold to a developer. The land was not open to other organizations to submit requests.
“Not all of us agreed that we just wanted, you know, no rent or $1 in rent,” Gibson said. “We just didn't want to see that lost.”
But he said that the city, as the landlord, is at risk because the zoo is not fully ADA compliant. If someone were to get hurt on the property, the city could be sued because it owns the land.
Gibson, who is running for mayor next year, said the city could operate the Wonder Gardens but that it would be a financial burden on Bonita Springs residents to do so.
“I mean, even at the simplest equation, the city paid $3 million for that property,” he said. “That's $3 million out of the taxpayers’ pockets that went to that piece of land that currently isn't generating revenue for the city.”
Gibson thinks BWG is doing great things, including the proposed animal hospital, but that the lack of communication with the city needs to be resolved.
“To me, the city is still in chapter one, chapter two, trying to get everything a good foundation,” he said. “And this organization's already, you know, in the last few chapters in the book, trying to put the bow on it with nice, beautiful, big things at the end.”
“There are many chapters in the middle that we have to go through,” he added. “They're kind of putting the cart ahead of the horse in this situation.”
Mackenzie Fluhartey, 33, has lived in north Naples for 12 years. She has never been to the Wonder Gardens but said she jogs by it a couple of times a month and would like to check it out.
“I do think it is important for it to stay here because, honestly, I’d hate to see it leave and then just turn into some other high-rise, like everything else in town,” Fluhartey said. “This is more, like, local, Florida feel.”
Heather Campbell, 39, is another north Naples resident who drives to Bonita to jog downtown. Though she has never visited the Wonder Gardens, she thinks it gives the city charm. She said she hopes that the city can come to an agreement that is beneficial to the zoo.
“Something like this in your area is priceless,” she said. “And making money isn’t always the best thing for your constituents.”
At the Wednesday, Oct. 18, council meeting, officials will discuss the goals they wish to accomplish with BWG.
“The point is, you have to get right with us, be in an agreement before you are running around and raising a ton of money for something that isn't even approved,” Purdon said. “Until then, I see it all as pie-in-the-sky wish lists…because they aren't even in a current operating agreement.”
This story was reported and written for the Democracy Watch program, a collaboration between FGCU Journalism and WGCU News. Gwendolyn Salata can be reached at gwendolyn.salata@yahoo.com.
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