Birmingham Zoo’s famed Monkey Island to be resurrected in Trussville

From The Trussville Tribune staff reports

TRUSSVILLE –One of the Birmingham Zoo’s most popular attractions from years gone by, Monkey Island, will soon come to life again in Trussville’s Civitan Park as part of the ongoing greenway project.

“The project has taken so long that we just felt like we needed to bring a really special element to Civitan Park to reward the citizens for their patience,” one city leader said.

Monkey Island will debut in Trussville on April 1, 2017

Monkey Island was a favorite of zoo patrons for generations, but saw it’s demise over a decade ago when it was shut down under pressure from groups like PETA and the Human Society.

Trussville officials said they want to avoid any negative scrutiny and they plan to compensate the spider monkeys in the new exhibit to keep animal activists happy. One city leader said the compensation shouldn’t hurt the city budget too much.

“We can afford it,” he said. “They work for peanuts.”

Despite numerous explanations by city officials that the Alabama Department of Transportation was responsible for the multi-year delay in park construction, city councilmen say they continue to get the heat and the blame for the problems.

“We haven’t been monkeying around with this park project, the state has, but people forget that,” one city councilman said. “The new Monkey Island will be a lasting testament to how this whole deal has been handled.”

If everything goes as planned, the Monkey Island exhibit will open one year from today on April Fools’ Day 2017.