A working group is being set up to look into a more appealing connection between Wildlands and the Raadhuisplein and the adjacent P-Zuid car park. Alderman Jisse Otter announced this during the committee meeting this evening. “That is still not enough of a party,” he said.
Visitors arriving must first pass the parking lot and care center De Holdert. Otter: “You don’t immediately get into a Wildlands atmosphere.” In that respect, there is therefore a search for more connections and more experience for visitors, says Otter. The entrance to the Atlas Theater could also be nicer. The ChristenUnie proposed to spice it up with light art.
The finances of the Emmer zoo were also discussed during the committee meeting. Last week it was announced that theater and zoo may borrow 5.5 million euros extra from the municipality, just like last year. For the rest, the park will receive one million in aid as compensation for corona measures taken and waived rent.
Without that support, Wildlands would have suffered a loss of 2.3 million euros over 2021. The number of visitors in the corona year also lagged behind what was expected by a quarter.
The Emmer factions can agree with the extra support that Wildlands animal park receives. “The loss is not too bad,” said Gunnar Jens Bijlsma (Wakker Emmen). “We see that the park itself also has a strong focus on costs. With slightly more visitors, the park might have been able to write black numbers.”
The support was mainly necessary due to corona, concluded Bijlsma. The virus just didn’t make it possible to see if Wildlands’ business plan still works.
Most parties endorsed the support offered. So is the Christian Union. “Despite corona, Wildlands has done its best to absorb all the blows,” said Henk Huttinga. “We would be selling the park short if we didn’t agree to it.”