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Aquarium Plans To Shake Up Sea

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By TED JACKOVICS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2007

TAMPA - The Florida Aquarium said Thursday it is planning a $6 million expansion which will include a major new marine exhibit and a larger ship for educational cruises of Tampa Bay.

The expansion plan, which will take place over the next five years and will be funded through private donations and other sources, is aimed at driving more traffic and revenue to the waterfront attraction, located in the Channelside area of downtown.

Thursday's announcement came on the same day the city-owned attraction touted its best year in attendance since it opened in 1995. Aquarium officials said the attraction booked 675,634 visitors for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, an 11 percent increase compared with the previous year.

The expansion plans include:

• Launching a $1.3 million combination fish display and interactive exhibit called "Ocean Commotion" that would open in October 2008. Ocean Commotion will replace the aquarium's Sea Hunt exhibit.
Ocean Commotion should help young visitors learn about marine life by using technology instead of posting a sign on a display, said Thom Stork, the aquarium's president and chief executive. Some features of the exhibit will give visitors the opportunity to interact with digital creations of sea life. Visitors also will be able to download information on exhibits onto their iPods and use their cell phones to access additional exhibit information.

The exhibit will include displays of marine life ranging from shrimp to sharks. In addition to the exhibit, the aquarium is planning on:

• Building a $4 million, 9,000-square-foot expansion for classrooms and conferences. "We are turning school groups away for lack of space," Stork said.

• Purchasing a $1 million ship that could seat 150 passengers for educational cruises on Tampa Bay, compared with the 49-passenger vessel the aquarium currently operates.

Each of the projects was evaluated by aquarium officials and approved because they believe the initiatives will drive more visitor traffic and offer a good return on the investment, Stork said.

"We must operate the aquarium as a business," Stork said. "That is how we have gotten where we are."

Stork explained that aquarium executives and employees no longer must worry where the next dollar is coming from. Attendance has been bolstered by a rebound in tourist traffic in recent months. Recent figures show the aquarium draws 55 percent of visitors from the local market and 45 percent beyond Tampa Bay.

"We have enhanced our marketing and improved our appearance," said Donna Manion, the aquarium board's chairwoman and president of RYB Consulting in Wesley Chapel, in explaining the gain in attendance.

The aquarium generated an operating surplus of $364,960 during the past fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

The city provided a $675,000 contribution for the past fiscal year, but it will decline to $600,000 this year. The city also is paying off debt on the original $84 million in construction bonds.

Donations from private sources are expected to include gifts from a fundraising campaign that is under way, Stork said.

One of the more remarkable signs of progress for the aquarium is that the average stay of visitors has increased to four hours, up from about 1.5 hours two years ago.

That has helped bolster revenue from food and gift sources. For example, the aquarium reported $700,000 in food profit last year under a new vendor, Aramark, compared with $118,000 in profit the previous year.

Gift shop income rose to $500,000, up from $100,000 last year.

Aquarium spokesman Tom Wagner attributed longer visitor stays to the popularity of the aquarium's Explore A Shore exhibit, eco-tours of Tampa Bay, and attractions that give visitors the opportunity to swim with marine life in a tank.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817 and tjackovics@tampatrib.com.

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