St. Louis Zoo proposes buying Grant's Farm – if voters approve tax for upkeep

ST. LOUIS • The St. Louis Zoo has agreed to buy the sprawling south St. Louis County animal park known as Grant's Farm for about $30 million from six heirs of August A. “Gussie” Busch Jr.

The deal would triple the zoo’s acreage, add a third campus to its holdings and allow the zoo to build a “robust” breeding facility for endangered animals, zoo leaders said Wednesday.

“It changes everything,” said Zoo President Jeffrey Bonner.

But the deal only goes through if a city judge agrees with four of six Busch heirs to release the land from a trust — and if area residents approve an added tax to fund as much as $8.5 million in yearly park operation costs.

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/article_a6372173-5e81-50ac-85d1-ebae9b68dade.html