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Palm Beach Zoo to open Thursday for the first time since Irma

Posted at 3:02 PM, Sep 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-19 19:56:13-04

Workers at the Palm Beach Zoo spent the day repairing the fences damaged by Hurricane Irma. The goal is to get the zoo ready for visitors quickly.

Thursday can't come soon enough. The Zoo's spokesperson, Naki Carter said,  "We are so happy to be almost back in business on Thursday. We can't wait to reopen. The animals can't wait to see everybody."

In fact, the message Palm Beach County wants to send the nation, and the world for that matter is that we're open for business. Visitors are wanted and welcomed.

So the push is on to wipe away any remnants of Irma.  

"We understand some individuals on the outside might think most of Florida was hit but the Palm Beaches wasn't hit that hard, said Rich Basen with Discover The Palm Beaches.

The company is getting creative in the getting the message out.

"We commissioned an aerial photographer late last week to do a flyover of all the Palm Beaches which is 47 miles of coastline as well as a lot of internal assets in and around the county to really showcase the area is up for business and ready to go," Basen said.

"While we have been closed for a significant amount of time, we knew it could have been much worse. So we are just happy we are able to open a day before our planned schedule," said zoo spokesperson Naki Carter.   
 
 The zoo will partially open on Thursday at 9 a-m. Ticket prices will be discounted. Adults will pay $10 and kids $5.