THE PIER AQUARIUM ANNOUNCES MOVE TO MADEIRA BEACH
John’s Pass Village to Be Home of Marine Discovery Center & Aquarium
St. Petersburg, FL (April 19, 2011) – The Pier Aquarium’s Board of Directors today announced a major relocation, expansion and re-branding of the 22-year-old aquarium in its new location at John’s Pass Village on Madeira Beach. The new 11,500 square foot facility, which more than triples the current exhibit space, is scheduled to open by the end of 2012.
In its new home, the attraction, now called the Marine Discovery Center & Aquarium (MDCA), will be designed to bring the public together with state-of-the-art marine research, innovation and technology that is being developed by the St. Petersburg Ocean Team and other marine related agencies and organizations. Four major new exhibits will be premiered – Science on a Sphere, Planet Water, Ocean Today and Climate Change – as well as the addition of larger live exhibits and an expanded Touch Tank.
“By marrying cutting-edge technology with live marine exhibits, MDCA will entertain and engage our visitors and create appreciation for our planet’s marine environment, above and under water,” said Board Chair and USF Professor of Marine Science, Mark Luther, Ph.D. “We will show visitors a world they cannot see anywhere else.”
MDCA will occupy the first and second floors in John’s Pass Village, adjacent to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and the new Hooters restaurants.
“The Marine Discovery Center & Aquarium is a wonderful addition to John’s Pass Village, already a great shopping and dining destination,” said Patricia Hubbard, CEO of Hubbard Properties which owns the building. “We can now offer our visitors, and especially our local families, a full day of quality entertainment in one convenient waterfront location.”
“With direct access to both the bay and Gulf of Mexico, MDCA will serve as an expanded resource for teachers and students for tours, projects and special programs. Currently, more than 30,000 students participate in our education programs,” said MDCA President & CEO E. Howard Rutherford.
Rutherford said master planning and naming opportunities are in development. A $3 million capital campaign will be announced later this year.
Contact: Emily Stehle, APR
Office: (727) 803-9799, ext. 207
Cell: (727) 688-7993
estehle@pieraquarium.org
www.pieraquarium.org
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By Katherine Snow Smith, Times Staff Writer
Copyright 2011 St. Petersburg Times
ST. PETERSBURG — Sorry St. Petersburg, the Pier Aquarium has deeper waters to plumb.
Faced with dramatically declining attendance, an uncertain future at the Pier and failed attempts to relocate in downtown, the aquarium is leaving after 23 years and is moving to John’s Pass. The non-profit marine research attraction plans to open in 10,000 square feet by December 2012.
“We will have three times the exhibit space. It’s going to be a much more interesting and exciting experience,” said Mark Luther, chairman of the aquarium’s board and a professor at USF’s College of Marine Science. The renamed Marine Discovery Center and Aquarium will showcase the marine science and technology in the area with interactive exhibits. The current aquarium is 2,200 square feet.
The Pier is slated to be demolished in 2012 or 2013 to make way for a $50 million makeover. Since the talk of changes began, residents have been unsure of the attraction’s current status. Add that to a dismal economy and extremely cramped quarters and aquarium attendance has dropped from about 175,000 people in 2005 to around 85,000 last year.
“I was hopeful they would maintain a presence downtown,” said St. Petersburg City Council member Herb Polson. “But you’ve got to strike when you can and if they got a good offer in a waterfront setting I hope it works well for them. It will be our loss..”
“I know nobody ever came to me and said, ‘We’re reaching a point where we’re going to have to leave,’ ” said council member Steve Kornell. “We’re the hub of marine science research in the whole Southeastern United States. I think we should have an education component for the Pier.”
The aquarium has considered seven different downtown venues including BayWalk, the St. Petersburg Museum of History and a city-owned facility next to Al Lang Field, Luther said, but the rates or availability never panned out.
Aquarium officials announced in May that it would move elsewhere downtown. A later survey of members, sponsors and donors found there was support for a location at the beaches if downtown didn’t work out. With $700,000 in grants and donations in hand, the aquarium will try to raise $3 million more for the new space.
Luther thinks the new facility will still draw many residents from St. Petersburg and throughout the area as well as more tourists.
“It caused me great concern moving away from downtown, but the reality is the Pier is going away,” he said, “and we don’t want to be the last ones to turn the light out when they leave.”
