BATON ROUGE – Opponents of moving the zoo from its North Baton Rouge location said at a news conference late Friday, they are taking the matter to court to collect documents tied to meetings and correspondence.

An anti-move group spearheaded by Metro Councilwoman Chauna Banks-Daniel has fought BREC over its consideration of finding a new location for the zoo. While BREC hasn't said it is entirely committed to moving the zoo, some have said it appears the parks service is pretty much certain the zoo will move.

BREC has held meetings discussing a potential zoo move and rehab of the park the zoo currently occupies. The anti-move group has also held its own set of meetings.

BREC has not isolated a new location but said it would spend about $110 million on a new zoo – the same amount of money it'd spend on renovating the zoo in its current location but argues, keeping the zoo where it is would hinder new amenities that a ground-up zoo could feature.

The lawsuit seeks to collect documents - from meeting agendas to notes and emails - dating back to 2002.  The lawsuit suggests a public records request filed this summer was only partially fulfilled.  It appears the group is looking for a way to show a plan to move the zoo has been cemented and is not just a proposal.  

BREC is expected to release a comment on the announcement by its opponents later Friday. Check back for updates. 

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