MADEIRA BEACH, Fla — An old bank building on Gulf Boulevard in Madeira Beach doesn’t have much money inside anymore, but what is inside is truly treasured.
“We now have a bank of animals,” joked Sonny Flynn, the owner of Alligator and Wildlife Discovery Center. “It’s been great space, we’ve been able to utilize every inch of it.”
The building is where Flynn keeps, as she calls them, more than 100 of her "babies." They are animals including small alligators, exotic birds, lemurs and tortoises.
“We are taking in animals, I have 17 new animals so we are still continuing,” Flynn added.
Two months ago, our 10 Tampa Bay cameras were there when volunteers helped rescue many of these same critters from the original center in Johns Pass that was destroyed in what was determined to be an electrical fire in the ceiling.
The fire tore through most of the enclosures, killing more than 100 animals at the popular destination for visitors and tourists. That morning, Flynn vowed to rebuild, a process that’s now making progress.
“We’ll be able to get all our babies back in there, all 137 of them and our new ones, hopefully by the end of November,” she said
The signs of tragedy still appear on some that were rescued, like a tortoise with a darker shell and a lizard missing some fingers, but those same signs show their resilience and the community that supported them.
“I just couldn’t be more grateful to the community and the response to that day. It was very overwhelming and I haven’t stopped since. I’m here every day, I’m still trying to fundraise, I’m still trying to work it out and I couldn’t do it without the support of our community,” Flynn said.
On Monday, the center began welcoming the public to their temporary space, providing an up close and personal experience with the rescued exotic animals once again.
Tickets are $10 and “every penny that goes to these ticket prices or anything is going back to our rebuild and the care for the animals,” says Flynn.
They have plans in place and soon they hope to be back at their original location, doing what they’ve been doing for years.
“Our mission is education and conservation, which is huge not only to our community but our tourists too,” Flynn added.
The Michael and Robin Lally Forward Foundation has pledged to match up to $75,000 in community donations to help with their effort.