Money secured, work to start next week on Flats aquarium

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A whole lot of fish from around the world are expected on Cleveland's shores in the fall.

Jacobs Entertainment announced Friday that it had secured the $33 million needed for the first phase of a long-discussed aquarium in the Powerhouse on the Flats' west bank. Officials hope to start construction next week and expect the attraction to open later this year.

They're also designing an eventual second phase estimated at more than $40 million.

Mayor Frank Jackson said in a news release, "The Greater Cleveland Aquarium is one of the many new projects that will help reinforce downtown Cleveland as a destination for residents, visitors and businesses."

Patrick J. McKinley, executive vice president of Jacobs Entertainment, said, "We expect this to serve as a catalyst for additional development for years to come."

Officials hope for synergy among the aquarium and other downtown attractions, including the planned casino and the Flats East Bank project that recently broke ground.

The aquarium will be a U.S. first for Marinescape NZ Ltd., which has developed 21 aquariums in Europe, Asia, Australia and its home country of New Zealand. The Flats aquarium will occupy more than 70,000 square feet in the historic Powerhouse at Jacobs' Nautica Entertainment Complex, which opened in the late 1980s.

The aquarium will include a "SeaTube" of clear acrylic for a walk-through view of marine depths. It will also offer environmental education, with classrooms, full-time teachers and research projects. Officials hope for more than 400,000 visitors annually. The average ticket price is set at under $14.

Last November, the City Council let Jacobs reduce the number of guaranteed full-time jobs from 40 to 20 in return for a $2 million city loan for Phase 1. But Jacobs officials still predict 40 full-time jobs, which would have $1.6 million in wages per year.

Phase 1's financiers include FirstEnergy Corp. and AMPCO, which operates Nautica's parking lot. Officials are still exploring Phase 2's financing, timetable and more. They foresee a new building with glass atriums along the river.

Phase 1 will occupy much of the Powerhouse. The building will still house Lolly the Trolley's headquarters and Windows on the World, a recently expanded banquet facility. It will add an aquarium-themed restaurant.

The Cleveland Improv comedy club will move this month from the Powerhouse to bigger, renovated space in Nautica's old Sugar Warehouse, which also is the site of Shooters on the Water. Nautica Charity Poker Festivals will move next to McCarthy's Ale House in a historic Nautica building across the street. Officials hope to move the Powerhouse Pub and the adjoining Howl at the Moon bar elsewhere in the complex.

The complex also includes the Nautica Queen dock, the Nautica Pavilion amphitheater and the Apartments at Nautica. It does not include the somewhat intermingled Christie's Cabaret and Harbor Inn.

The previous Cleveland Aquarium closed at Gordon Park in 1986, and its fish were moved to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Several local groups have talked about opening other aquariums.

(Article courtesy of Cleveland.com)