We’re Planning to Move…by 2012
June 2010
Much has been in the news lately about The Pier and the discussion about what’s going to happen next: Will the $50 million in earmarked funds go to renovating the approach? Will the entire structure, approach and Pier head, experience the wrecking ball? Will it be replaced with a fishing pier, a facility closer to shore or a new iconic landmark with the flavor of an amusement park?
During this time of discussion and questions, we have been grappling with uncertainty, too. But there were givens that have been consistent during the past three years. The Pier Aquarium officers and board of directors have seen the challenges and changes as we’ve slowly but surely outgrown our second floor 2,000 sq. ft. space. With the realization that we were growing and evolving beyond a traditional aquarium, the board, a community Steering Committee and senior staff have worked on a Marine Discovery Center (MDC) model.
More than a bigger aquarium, the MDC is a much broader, more technology-focused concept of an interactive museum that includes the use of real-time data. We plan to expand our role as the "public face” for our marine research, technology and innovation community, the St. Petersburg Ocean Team, a newly-organized consortium of 12 marine science organizations, agencies and businesses including one of our founding partners, the USF College of Marine Science. Our vision is a state-of-the-art museum that showcases the real-time research being done here in Tampa Bay.
We have announced that changes to The Pier will change The Pier Aquarium. We must – and intend - to move by Jan. 1, 2012. Our location? Downtown. Our hope is that the MDC will be asked to return permanently to the NEW Pier as its main attraction.
Currently, we are seeking a temporary facility with 5,500 sq. ft. of exhibit space (triple of what we have now). We are negotiating on two waterfront locations and by September will know where we’ll land. We will go about the business of naming the MDC, communicating the project to the community and embarking on the first phase of a capital campaign to raise $1 million.
Our first building phase will be an "extreme makeover” since the proposed MDC won’t solely be an aquarium. There will be aquarium tanks, but they will not be the main feature. Rather, they will illustrate an aspect of our overall themes of Change, Behavior and Movement. Sponsors have already pledged almost a half million dollars for design, technology and installation of exhibits for water conservation, climate change and real-time translation of oceanic processes.
For example, the Movement gallery might feature a shark tank complementing the exhibit for USF research that explains how sharks have moved from their habitat in cases of approaching storms – and moved back after the danger passed. It’s certainly a different way at looking at aquariums, marine science and community education.
Your comments, thoughts and participation in the creation of a Marine Discovery Center are very much welcomed. Please e-mail me at hrutherford@pieraquarium.org or call me at (727) 803-9799, ext. 202.
E. Howard Rutherford
President/CEO
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