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The first phase of construction on a new aquarium and nature conservation campus in Florida is scheduled to begin in October
Lauren Heath-Jones | Planet Attractions | 15 Mar 2023
The first phase of the Port Canaveral Aquarium and Conservation Center are scheduled for completion in 2027 Credit: Brevard Zoo
The construction of a new US$100m (€93.5m, £82m) aquarium and conservation campus in Florida, US, is to begin in October this year.
The Port Canaveral Aquarium and Conservation Center is being spearheaded by Brevard Zoo. It is being funded by a US$5m (€4.6m, £4.1) tourism-tax grant from the Brevard County Commission on top of a previous US$10m (€9.3m, £8.2m) grant awarded by the commission in 2018, as well as funds from an ongoing fundraising campaign set up by the East Coast Zoological Society, which so far has raised US$55m (€51.2m, £) of a US$100m (€93.5m, £82m) goal.
Once completed the aquarium is expected to attract 525,000 visitors annually and provide a US$85.5m (€79.6m, £70m) economic boost to the region.
The project’s initial construction phase, scheduled for completion in 2027, will include a conservation hub offering three storeys of wet laboratories that will enable university researchers and students to study the nearby Indian River Lagoon. Called the Dr Duane De Freese Coastal Conservation Hub, the facility has been named for environmental advocate and executive director of the Indian River Lagoon Council and Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program; Dr Duane De Freese, who described the centre as the “heart of the aquarium.”
It will also feature a US$2m (€1.86m, £1.64m) rehabilitation centre for manatees that will provide medical care for the animals. It will be equipped with three rehab pools, walk-in coolers and a storage facility for medical equipment.
The aquarium’s second construction phase will include a 5,000sq ft (464sq m) “changing exhibit gallery” that will “transport” viewers around the world with floor-to-ceiling digital imagery projected on a 360-degree visual field.
“That space will allow us to transport you,” said Keith Winsten, executive director of Brevard Zoo.
Winsten went on to describe the aquarium as “really important for tourism.”
“It gives us a critical mass of attractions that are authentic. If you go over to Orlando, there are world-class attractions, and I love Harry Potter World – it’s authentic to the books, but you know it’s not a real place. But Kennedy Space Center, the zoo and the aquarium, these are real authentic things.”
Animal attractions
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