cityboi
Dec 3, 2003, 2:42 PM
Talks bubble about building an aquarium in downtown Raleigh
Kim Nilsen
RALEIGH - The North Carolina Aquarium Society has uncorked the idea of building an aquarium in Raleigh, and the nonprofit has taken a furtive glance at a possible site - downtown's Exploris museum.
Before anyone draws comparisons between that look- see and the circling of sharks, the visit wasn't as predatory as it might sound.
"That's one of the facilities that we've looked at internally," says Neal Conoley, executive director of the society. "Certainly, we're not pushing the idea." The notion was discussed "in passing" with state officials at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which oversees North Carolina's three state-supported aquariums.
Conoley says there have been no talks with Exploris, a private, nonprofit children's museum, or with Wake County, which owns and maintains Exploris' Hargett Street building.
"If there's any interest in doing that," he adds, the society would be happy to consider it. But he stresses that for this year, the society is focused on getting a $23 million-plus expansion at the state aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores near Atlantic Beach.
The smallest of the state aquariums Pine Knoll had 239,710 visitors in the year that ended June 30. The Fort Fisher aquarium drew 456,190, while the facility on Roanoke Island reported attendance of 315,714.
Exploris and the Imax at Exploris theater, which have been plagued with budget deficits despite ongoing funding from Wake County, drew 183,000 visitors in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
"Aquariums are great attractions," says Margaret Mullen, president of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. "It's one we ought to look at."
But Mullen, a member of the Exploris board, would look to the existing Raleigh Convention and Conference Center building instead of Exploris as a site. The more modern portion of the center, which faces Wilmington Street, would be left standing when the new convention center opens, under the current plan.
A bid to convert Charlotte's old convention hall to an aquarium fizzled in 2000 when the city developed alternative plans. Refitting the building and adding exhibits would have cost $75 million to $100 million, Conoley says.
The Queen City could offer up competition for supporters of an aquarium in Raleigh. Meanwhile, a group from Fayetteville has sought state backing for a freshwater aquarium in that city.
While Charlotte boasts a larger population than Raleigh, Conoley says, the capital city is better known as a museum hub. "It just depends on which place wants to be more aggressive," he says.
Several groups could be waiting in the wings for Raleigh's leftover convention center space, Mullen says. Already, there's talk of a movie theater, performance space, a community center and a public-private partnership to build Shaw University dorms.
A center city location in Raleigh would give Raleigh another tourist attraction.
The National Aquarium in Baltimore drew 1.5 million people in 2002. More than 1.7 million visited the $70 million South Carolina Aquarium between its May 2000 opening on the Charleston Harbor and April 2003.
Kim Nilsen
RALEIGH - The North Carolina Aquarium Society has uncorked the idea of building an aquarium in Raleigh, and the nonprofit has taken a furtive glance at a possible site - downtown's Exploris museum.
Before anyone draws comparisons between that look- see and the circling of sharks, the visit wasn't as predatory as it might sound.
"That's one of the facilities that we've looked at internally," says Neal Conoley, executive director of the society. "Certainly, we're not pushing the idea." The notion was discussed "in passing" with state officials at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which oversees North Carolina's three state-supported aquariums.
Conoley says there have been no talks with Exploris, a private, nonprofit children's museum, or with Wake County, which owns and maintains Exploris' Hargett Street building.
"If there's any interest in doing that," he adds, the society would be happy to consider it. But he stresses that for this year, the society is focused on getting a $23 million-plus expansion at the state aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores near Atlantic Beach.
The smallest of the state aquariums Pine Knoll had 239,710 visitors in the year that ended June 30. The Fort Fisher aquarium drew 456,190, while the facility on Roanoke Island reported attendance of 315,714.
Exploris and the Imax at Exploris theater, which have been plagued with budget deficits despite ongoing funding from Wake County, drew 183,000 visitors in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
"Aquariums are great attractions," says Margaret Mullen, president of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. "It's one we ought to look at."
But Mullen, a member of the Exploris board, would look to the existing Raleigh Convention and Conference Center building instead of Exploris as a site. The more modern portion of the center, which faces Wilmington Street, would be left standing when the new convention center opens, under the current plan.
A bid to convert Charlotte's old convention hall to an aquarium fizzled in 2000 when the city developed alternative plans. Refitting the building and adding exhibits would have cost $75 million to $100 million, Conoley says.
The Queen City could offer up competition for supporters of an aquarium in Raleigh. Meanwhile, a group from Fayetteville has sought state backing for a freshwater aquarium in that city.
While Charlotte boasts a larger population than Raleigh, Conoley says, the capital city is better known as a museum hub. "It just depends on which place wants to be more aggressive," he says.
Several groups could be waiting in the wings for Raleigh's leftover convention center space, Mullen says. Already, there's talk of a movie theater, performance space, a community center and a public-private partnership to build Shaw University dorms.
A center city location in Raleigh would give Raleigh another tourist attraction.
The National Aquarium in Baltimore drew 1.5 million people in 2002. More than 1.7 million visited the $70 million South Carolina Aquarium between its May 2000 opening on the Charleston Harbor and April 2003.