Sunset Zoo Trust Announces $5.7 Million Raised Toward Major Zoo Expansion

Sunset Zoo Trust announced a fundraising campaign over 17 months has raised $5.767 million dollars, or 70% of its goal of $8.25 million, toward a major expansion at the zoo.

Trust President Linda Wassberg said that the first shovel could go in the ground in 2027.

“We are thrilled with the fundraising progress and believe this expansion will elevate Sunset Zoo to a new standard of excellence,” Wassberg said at a celebration with donors at Sunset Zoo on Thursday, Oct. 8. The event also celebrated the birthday of former K-State football coach Bill Snyder, who along with his wife Sharon, is an Honorary Co-Chair of the fundraising campaign.

The zoo expansion will bring back the beloved Sunset Barnyard, where children can view and interact with farm animals. It will also build a premier habitat to breed endangered lemurs (a lively primate found only in the wild in Madagascar), create a new habitat for bobcats and celebrate the connection to the K-State wildcat mascot, construct new habitats for four existing species, and upgrade the infrastructure of the zoo.

The city of Manhattan has chosen Anderson Knight as the architect for the project and McCownGordon Construction as the general contractor. The project will be entirely funded by philanthropic giving.

The celebration honored all 77 donors to the fundraising campaign, including three donations of at least one million dollars each: Dan and Beth Bird, the Dean and Verlla Coughenour Trusts, and the Goldstein Foundation.

Major donors gathered for a photo after the event. Left to Right: Dennis Mullin, co-chairman of the Sunset Zoo Trust fundraising committee and board member of the Goldstein Foundation; Nancy Knopp, Sunset Zoo Trust fundraising committee co-chair; Linda Wassberg, president of Sunset Zoo Trust; Susan Coughenour Lundstrom (daughter of Dean and Verlla Coughenour); and Beth and Dan Bird.)