ZOO DESIGN. The San Diego Wild Animal Park has won countless awards for its design and concepts and its record of successfully breeding many endangered species. Now an investment group wishes to bring a similar attraction to the Orlando, Florida, area. The group has secured and plans to develop a 350-acre parcel of land not too far from Disneyworld, Universal Studios, and other central Florida attractions.
The animal park can be thought of as being divided into seven general areas:
• Zoo habitat attractions
• Show areas where animal shows will be seen throughout the day
• Restaurant areas
• Retail establishments
• Maintenance areas
• “Green” areas—consisting of parks and other required green spaces
• Walkways and service roads that intermingle throughout the park
The following is a list of zoning agency and other conditions that must be met by zoo planners:
• Each acre devoted to habitat areas is expected to generate $ 1 0 0 0 per hour in gross profit to the park and is to be surrounded by .03 acre of green area. At least 40% of the park will consist of habitat areas (not including the required green areas).
• Each acre devoted to show areas is expected to generate $900 per hour in gross profit to the park and is to be surrounded by .40 acre of green areas. At least 5% of the park will consist of show areas (not including the required green areas).
• Combined, the habitat and show areas (excluding corresponding green areas) should not account for more than 70% of the park! Also, the show areas (including corresponding green areas) should not represent more than 2 0 % of the combined acreage for habitat and show areas (including their corresponding green areas).
• At least 25% of the park that is not dedicated to habitat and show areas (not including their required green areas) should be green areas.
• Maintenance facility space is required as follows: .01 acre for each acre of habitat, .1 0 acre for every acre of shows, .08 acre for every acre of restaurants, .06 acre for every acre of retail establishments, .0 2 acre for every acre of green space, and .04 acre for every acre of walkways/roads.
• Restaurants will average .25 acre. Each must be surrounded by .15 acre of green space. It is estimated that each restaurant will generate $800 per hour in gross profit. The park should contain between 20 and 30 restaurants.
• Retail stores will average .20 acre and will be surrounded by .10 acre of green areas. Each store will generate approximately $750 per hour in gross profit. The park should contain between 15 and 25 stores, but there should be at least as many restaurants as retail stores.
• At least 10 acres of the park should be walkways and service roads. Adjoining each walkway and service road must be green areas equal to 25% of the corresponding walkway/service area.
• At least 100 acres of the animal park should be park areas, which are green areas not required by the habitat and show areas, restaurant and retail establishments, and walkways/pathways.
• The park will be open 10 hours per day 365 days per year. It has fixed daily operating expenses of $ 2,000,000.
Create an optimal design for the park that will maximize total hourly gross profit. The design should indicate the number of acres devoted to zoo habitat, show attractions, maintenance, walkways, and park areas. It should also detail the number and acreage required for restaurant and retail store areas and summarize the total green space in the animal park. What would be the annual net profit of this design?