Aquarium could be coming to Jacksonville?

[heights unknown]

Amen to Amelia Gaillard's post and quote.

[Adam12]

At 150,000 sq ft, I am concerned about the size. That's 100,000 sq ft smaller than the Florida Aquarium, unless they want a lot of outdoor exhibits... In any case, the much cheaper feasibility study should definitely come first.

[downtownbrown]

What is the point of this discussion?  The aquarium folks have absolutely no money and no financial backers.  The mayor has a long downtown wish list with nothing remotely close to being approved by City Council.  The city has no money, and the mayor refuses to raise revenue.  The City Council refuses to tap debt reserves for anything.  Nothing, and I mean nothing is going on downtown that isn't privately funded.

This is all about one thing: What does Shad want?  Shad promised a plan by the beginning of the football season, then by the end of the year, and now it appears to be whenever he feels like it.  IF Shad wants an aquarium, he will have one. If he doesn't want an aquarium, there won't be one.

There is nothing happening downtown on a large scale.  Why spend time fantasizing about it?  We are hostages of Shad Khan and victims of a do nothing city government.

[jaxjaguar]

Shad did announce his plan. He said the full unveil will occur after the city remidiates the shipyards and finds someone to complete Berkman II.... but since the city can't/won't spend any money, it's not going to happen. Don't hold your breath for any major downtown developments. Jax is a "study now develop never" city.

[Tacachale]

Khan hasn't announced his plan beyond saying he's still interested and something will be announced at some future point. Whatever it is would take a lot of involvement from the city, and we know how that goes with our current "leadership" in City Hall.

[tufsu1]

I would expect an announcement from Khan in about 4-6 weeks

[mtraininjax]

I don't see Khan announcing until after the mayoral election. Unless he is 100% sure that Brown can beat Curry.

[tufsu1]

I don't see Khan announcing until after the mayoral election. Unless he is 100% sure that Brown can beat Curry.

you don't think it is part of Brown's strategy?...but yes, maybe the announcement waits until the latter days of the runoff

[downtownbrown]

I don't see Khan announcing until after the mayoral election. Unless he is 100% sure that Brown can beat Curry.

Just curious.  Why do you think Khan needs Brown?  Do you assume that Curry is anti-downtown?

[Buforddawg]

At first I did not think that $100 million would be enough money to build an aquarium here in Jacksonville.  But judging from how much the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga cost, I think we could build a respectable aquarium here in Jacksonville for a little more than $100 million.  I have provided the links to where I pulled the information and used a Purchasing Power Calculator (http://www.buyupside.com/calculators/purchasepowerjan08.htm) to determine today's dollar value.

South Carolina Aquarium cost $69 million to build in 1995 dollars or $107.3 million in today's money.
   Source http://scaquarium.org/media-information/
Georgia Aquarium cost $290 million to build (not including land) in  2002 dollars or $381.9 million today in today's money.
   Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Aquarium
Tennessee Aquarium cost $45 million to build in 1992 dollars or $76 million in today's money.
   Source http://savannahnow.com/stories/112101/LOCaquarium.shtml

Construction and other costs maybe higher/lower here than in SC, GA, or TN but using the base numbers seem to show a viable goal.  I do believe that public funds should not be used, it should all be private donations through businesses and citizenry.   

I like the idea of some sort of water taxi service between the aquarium and zoo (it should be run by aquarium/zoo and not the city) as a great tie-in between the two attractions.

If no public funds are used, I do not see why any elected city official would be opposed to having an aquarium downtown.  And to be honest, I'd rather have an aquarium than a convention center (new or current).

[jake_jax]

Thank-you Buforddawg for replying, you obviously did your homework. Yours is about the only intelligent response in this blog

This is the biggest issue with the city of Jacksonville and that is its citizens. They are never happy, they are mad because we have nothing here, but when a group tries to do something. They shut it down.

With the proven success of aquariums in other cities why wouldn't it work here?
These figures are from 2013

TOP AQUARIUMS

The most-visited aquariums in the United States with 2013 attendance:

1. Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, 2,200,000
2. John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, 2,020,000
3. Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, Calif., 1,976,944
4. Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, Calif., 1,500,000
5. Steinhart Aquarium, San Francisco, 1,400,000
6. National Aquarium, Baltimore, 1,300,000
7. New England Aquarium, Boston, 1,299,405
8. Ripley's Aquarium, Myrtle Beach, S.C., 1,000,000
9. Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies, Gatlinburg,Tenn., 1,000,000
10. Tennessee Aquarium, Chattanooga, Tenn., 946,910
11. Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, 915,000
12. Adventure Aquarium, Camden, N.J., 852,821
13. Seattle Aquarium, 802,802
14. Mystic Aquarium, Mystic, Conn., 750,000
15. Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans, 728,958
16. Florida Aquarium, Tampa, 697,958
17. Newport Aquarium, Newport, Ky., 684,742
18. Dallas World Aquarium, Dallas, 651,976
19. Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, Virginia Beach, 620,949
20. Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco, 600,000
Source: Association of Zoos and Aquariums

If you want Jacksonville to change, get off your rear and support something that will be the game changer for the city? Stop flapping your lips and do something

[thelakelander]

If no public funds are used, I do not see why any elected city official would be opposed to having an aquarium downtown.  And to be honest, I'd rather have an aquarium than a convention center (new or current).

I doubt many would be against a private entity spending $100 million of their own money on an attraction. Aquarium, water park, mall, convention center, whatever.

[InnerCityPressure]

Tennessee Aquarium cost $45 million to build in 1992 dollars or $76 million in today's money.

I visited the Tennessee Aquarium this past weekend.  It was acceptable quality to blow 2-3 hours.  It was, however, a HORRIBLE value.  $27 for an adult and really not even in the same league as the Georgia Aquarium.

I don't mind a small lower-cost aquarium, but it needs to have a good price point and interesting layout.  The best example of this that I can think of is SeaLife Aquarium in Brighton, UK.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoffWXjTEpU  It would be awesome to have one big tank with a tunnel underneath and viewing area/shows above,  Big touch tank section, and lots of smaller sections on the way to these two things. 

Brighton has got to have half of the tank space/sea life as Chattanooga, but we spent the same amount of time at each and much preferred the experience in Brighton.  I don't think we need to have a big time Georgia Aquarium type deal.  Give me a well-designed, well-planned medium sized aquarium for $15/person and I think we've got a winner. 

[thelakelander]

^Btw, the Tennessee Aquarium has undergone a major expansion since 1992. It's also not the only reason DT Chattanooga has come back. Several attractions and improvements were implemented as a part of a coordinated plan to breathe life back into DT. The aquarium was just one of them.

[tpot]

Aquarium part of the new museum of science coming to downtown Miami

http://www.local10.com/news/groundwork-set-for-aquarium-at-frost-museum/30359816