St. Pete's Pier Aquarium Proposes Move To BayWalk

ST. PETERSBURG - The Pier Aquarium might be moving to new digs after 20 years at the city's premier tourist attraction.

The proposed relocation calls for making space available for a larger aquarium at the BayWalk shopping and entertainment complex in the heart of downtown, a few blocks west of The Pier, by downsizing the 20-screen Muvico theater to 8 or 12 screens.

The aquarium has outgrown its space at The Pier, the inverted pyramid-shaped building with shops and restaurants on Tampa Bay, said E. Howard Rutherford, the aquarium's executive director. The aquarium occupies about 2,000 feet of exhibit space and another 1,000 square feet of office and classroom space there.

Moving the aquarium to the Muvico complex would provide the aquarium 12,000 square feet for live exhibits and what Rutherford calls a "Marine Discover Center" that would be tied to St. Petersburg's marine research community.

"The idea is to not abandon live exhibits altogether, but tying the live exhibits to the marine research that's taking place in our backyard," Rutherford said.

The aquarium estimates the expansion will cost $5.5 million, which would be covered through grants, corporate sponsorships and donations. The aquarium is hiring a consultant "to see if we're able to raise those dollars," Rutherford said.

The aquarium's admission prices likely would increase at the new location, to $7.50 for general admission from $5, Rutherford said. The aquarium would remain at The Pier until the new facility opens in about two years.

It's not clear what would happen to the two floors the aquarium now occupies at The Pier, where attendance has dropped in recent years.

Mike Whalen, Muvico's president and chief executive, said the 20-screen complex would be reconfigured into a smaller, more intimate "boutique" theater featuring a restaurant and bar. Muvico has done such upscale theaters in Boca Raton and Chicago and is doing one in the Los Angeles area, Whalen said.

"You would start to re-energize that area to get families and kids down there," Whalen said, referring to the aquarium. "Then at night, the theater would attract the right audience to create a vibrant evening downtown entertainment."

Muvico owns the theater building and the land underneath it, Whalen said.

Such a change could lead to new and different retail tenants at BayWalk, where some retailers say they struggle to bring in customers during the week, Whalen said.

The Sembler Co., which opened BayWalk in 2001, has the 150,000-square-foot complex up for sale.