The Woodland Park Zoo is all hands on deck in preparing for the May 1 grand opening of its new 58,000-square-foot West Entrance.

The new entrance will replace the current West Entrance and is located off Phinney Avenue North between North 55th Street and North 56th Street. It features ticketing booths, member and guest services, a second ZooStore and a coffee cart.

"The zoo has 750 regular volunteers, and even they can't do it alone," said Kim Haas, zoo spokesperson.

Luckily for the zoo, the impending West Entrance opening coincided with Kohl's Volunteers Go Green Event, brining 100 employees from the national department store to the zoo to volunteer their help April 27.

Haas said it was important for the zoo to get those extra volunteers when it did.

Mike Whatley, Kohl's district manager, said in honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Kohl's was looking to help out with green projects, as well as projects that focus on children and education.

The Woodland Park Zoo fit those criteria and presented an opportunity for the department store, which is located largely outside Seattle, to connect with the city, he said.

Kohl's volunteers from its 10 stores in the Seattle area, including some from as far away as Bellingham, spent the day cleaning and organizing for the zoo's Zooper Day Camp, preparing the grounds and behind-the-scenes animal areas, cleaning the Family Farm and setting up the membership office and gift shop at the new West Entrance.

The 300 volunteer hours being put in by Kohl's employees at the Woodland Park Zoo were matched with a $16,000 grant from Kohl's.

The $7.5 million West Entrance was funded through private support and a $1 million grant from Bank of America.

The zoo is hoping to achieve Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification system for the West Entrance, which features a rain water infiltration system to prevent runoff into Puget Sound.

There will be a ribbon cutting at 9 a.m. on May 1 with zoo and state officials, including U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, Mayor Mike McGinn, Seattle City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw and Woodland Park Zoo President Deborah Jensen.

The West Entrance will open for guests at 9:30 a.m. May 1 is also the grand opening of the zoo's new meerkat exhibit.