BATON ROUGE — BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo has finished its facelift and is holding its grand opening this weekend.

The grand opening of the Baton Rouge Zoo and Greenwood Community Park will be on Saturday, with festivities starting at 9:30 a.m. before the new zoo entry building and giraffe exhibit are christened with a ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m. The new entry point, accessed via LA 19 for all future visits starting on Saturday, BREC noted.

BREC Chief Operating Officer Andrea Roberts said the new and improved zoo cost about $50 million when all was said and done. 

"We wanted to reimagine the zoo for the benefit of our residents... because everyone deserves a great park and a wonderful zoo," Roberts said.

BREC will also have live music, character appearances and a photo booth through 1:30 p.m. A new pavilion, the Bayou Promenade, will have its ribbon cutting at 1:30 p.m. as well. 

The new Greenwood Community Park Adventure Playground will also have a ribbon cutting at 4:30 p.m.

And be there early, because the first 70 visitors will get a free zoo pass!