Aquarium & Children's Museum for Downtown...

[tufsu1]

The design sketch is so imaginative.  This is a beautiful building that will clearly stand out in that landscape.  Once sketches are revealed for the proposed aquarium in Jacksonville, everyone will know how much better St. Augustine is

[IrvAdams]

^^ It's the Nation's Oldest City. It is definitely a cool place!

[I-10east]

Once sketches are revealed for the proposed aquarium in Jacksonville

I could care less if it comes to fruition TBH. Aquariums are so commonplace and boring. 

[jake_jax]

Inspiring, it looks like a Pet Store. 80,000 gallons is the size of a large swimming pool. St Augustine already has a zip line at the Alligator Farm.

Here are some facts for you

Florida Aquariums main tank is 500,000 gallons, St Augustines will be 160,000

If you want to kill a half hour this is the aquarium for you

[FSBA]

I wish them all the best but I don't think this has much of a chance. If this was closer to the tourist district it would have done fine.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I guess you're all right.

No one getting off of the interstate to spend a few days in St. Augustine would even consider a 2 hour detour for $12 each to check out some fish in tanks.  They'll be on the way to or already on vacation.  Who's got time for that?

[CityLife]

The snorkel adventure will have rays and other Florida sealife that visitors can interact with. "We'll have the opportunity to snorkel with the species that live right off the coast of Florida," said Kathy Hiester, who — along with her husband, Shawn — are behind the project.

I know some people are scared of sharks and some aren't strong swimmers, but out of state tourists have plenty of opportunities to do this on their trip to the state. Sebastian Inlet, Fort Pierce Inlet, Bathtub Beach in Stuart, and countless places in South Florida and the Keys have great snorkeling right off the beach.  Discovery Cove has decent snorkeling in Orlando and is affiliated with Sea World as well. I just don't see many tourists stopping off the highway to snorkel there.

If they go forward with this, I hope they can tap into the local school field trip market.

[copperfiend]

Not sure about this one. Location could be a killer.

[blizz01]

So it's by the outlet mall(s)?  Certainly seems tourist trappy.

[I-10east]

I'm stunned with the SR-16 location. Let me see, build it near Ripley's etc where all of the action is, or on the ass end of SR-16 near the outlet malls (the indoor I-95 South side is feeling negative effects from the economy BTW, with several closed stores like Nautica, and others in the interior mall) a mind boggling decision.

Most highway-side tourist attractions plays heavily on visibility; Will this thing even be visible from the highway? I'll be surprised if it is. Like many said already, obviously this will not compete with Tampa, Orlando etc, putting that in the old city should've been a no brainer. Well, if you are from Jax, and like aquariums, visit it often as you can, because it's definitely gonna need your help IMO. 

[thelakelander]

Yeah. In the old city, where people are already on foot and where it could feed off that traffic and accessibility to other attractions would have been ideal. Out by I-95? Good luck on keeping people coming in on a regular basis.

[CityLife]

Google Maps says it's an 8 minute drive from downtown St. Auggie to the Alligator Farm. This is 11 minutes away. The Alligator Farm is also on the way to the beach, next to the Lighthouse, Gypsy Cab Co., and Conch House. It is still somewhat in the tourist area. This takes you totally away from everything (save the Outlets).

Also, many people driving to St. Augustine from Jacksonville don't even take 16. Google Maps tells you to take 295 to US-1 and a lot of people also cut over at WGV and take 9 Mile Road (the scenic route).

I know they got some pushback from residents in Lincolnville and land acquisition is much higher, but they should have either located near the Historic District or on the Island (near the Alligator Farm). I think that may cost them in the long run, but do wish them well. I wish the County and/or St. Augustine would jump in and offer them a little financial support if they were to locate closer to the tourist areas.

[taylormiller]

I don't understand why the couple trying to fund the St. Aug aquarium doesn't just team up with AquaJax. Together they could make a project bigger than alone. St. Aug doesn't want the aquarium and Jax is dying to have one... Heck Mayor Brown & Khan could probably provide them with a sweet incentive package to come here.

This is, for the most part, a privately funded endeavor and as everyone here has mentioned, we have seriously missed the boat by not securing downtown Jacksonville as the location. I would love to see some email communication or written record from the Mayor's office, City Council or the Chamber of Commerce explaining why they thought this wasn't a worthwhile project to bring to Jacksonville.

These are the kinds of stories that are just humiliating for this city. Maybe the public reaction of Jax citizens will be loud enough to force someone's hand here. We cannot continue being a city with "potential," we MUST bring ideas like this to fruition or else that potential will die. There are plenty of people in this city that could have made the necessary accomodations to get an aquarium here. The Hiesters' plan may be small, may be even too small to work for the long run, but at least this plan has someone with some skin in the game. I applaud the Hiesters' passion in proposing this idea and their financial investment in it, but this is a damning indictment on anyone and everyone in Jacksonville who could have made us the destination. Here's a message to City Council, Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor's Office - you have all failed by letting this one go - you're either too inept at your jobs if you were unaware of this story or you're in the wrong job because you lack the absolutely required vision for where this city needs to go.

This is why we can't have nice things.

[Charles Hunter]

Was this proposal ever offered to Jacksonville, for it to be rejected?

[thelakelander]

Not that I'm aware of.