Miami-Dade may soon stick its neck out — to the tune of $6 million — on a glow-up for a Zoo Miami spot that offers up-close culinary encounters with its tallest residents.
County Commissioners in the Recreation, Tourism and Resiliency Committee will consider a resolution next week on a proposed $6.2 million contract to renovate the park’s giraffe-feeding station, where visitors can feed lettuce to the even-toed ungulates.
The measure, sponsored by the committee’s Chair, René García, would authorize a construction contract with Quality Construction and Performance, a Miami-based company founded in 2004.
Quality Construction would have 548 days to finish the job, which would entail demolishing and replacing the existing feeding platform and animal holding pens, according to a Sept. 11, 2025, request to advertise from Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Director Christina White.
The current platform is made of wood and shows some signs of weathering in recent photos.
Funds for the project would come from the Zoo Miami-specific Countywide Infrastructure Investment Program funds in Miami-Dade’s 2025-26 budget, which Commissioners approved in September.
The proposed award to Quality Construction followed a competitive solicitation that opened Feb. 3. Quality Construction won out of six bidders for submitting the lowest responsible offer, a memo from county Chief Utilities and Regulatory Services Officer Roy Coley said.
Zoo Miami’s popular giraffe-feeding station has been a staple attraction for years, giving visitors the chance to hand-feed the animals from an elevated platform and interact with them at eye level.
It’s one of a few places at the zoo where direct animal feeding is permitted, along with similar rhino, tortoise, camel and parrot-feeding experiences, and it has long been included in membership perks and ticket add-ons.
The park charges $5 per feed or $12 per lettuce basket.
While Zoo Miami does not publicly break out attendance for the feeding station alone, Zoo Miami itself draws hundreds of thousands of visitors annually as the largest zoo in Florida.
If OK’d at the committee’s April 14 meeting, the resolution would still need to receive a majority vote by the full County Commission to win approval.
