Bill Young, president and maybe sole member of Aquarium for Pensacola, fired off a letter last Friday to hopefully resurrect his idea for a downtown aquarium to be built using the old tanks at the closed Main Street Sewage Treatment plant. Over the last month, it has been discovered that Young has no support from state, federal or local officials to fund the project. Of what little money he has raised nearly $8,000 was allegedly stolen out of his group’s bank account. And he can’t prove that he ever had the 70,000 petition signatures he once claimed he had in support of the project….but none of this has stopped him from pushing for the ECUA board to delay demolishing the tanks.
In his latest letter, Young attacks ECUA Board Member Lois Benson because he believes she was wants housing instead of an aquarium. I’m not making this up. It’s the old fish versus people argument, which I’m sure will persuade the ECUA board to change its mind.
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Email from Bill Young
I find it interesting that ECUA board member Lois Benson stated that the ECUA cannot be a participant of our project or endorse our project and that we need to go to the City for support, even though we weren’t even asking them to be a participant. All we were asking for was delay in the demolition to give us ample time to raise funds and conduct a feasibility study. But, at the same time she has been on WUWF radio station and on TV news networks advocating housing development of the property. She seems to be showing a great deal of personal interest in development of the property for housing while speaking as an ECUA board member representative.
Ms. Benson and Thaddeus Cohen, CRA have been promoting housing development on the ECUA property and saying it will provide more revenue for the City and low end affordable housing for the Maritime Park and downtown workforce. The fact is moving people from their house or apartment their currently living into housing or condominiums on the ECUA property is not going to increase tax revenue. Also, with construction of the maritime museum, UWF archeological and marine biology facility and small aquarium exhibit delayed for years, what need or demand will there be for housing? Wasn’t it the original part of the planning and design of the Maritime Park to provide parking and employee housing on the Maritime Park property?
All you need to do is go back and look at the history of the Aragon Courts development and you will see how this ECUA property housing development closely parallels it. The Aragon project was promoted as low end affordable housing and just look at the kind of houses were built there. If I am correct, as originally promoted, the price of those houses was supposed to be $130,000 – $150,000.
What you will likely see happen with the ECUA property is that it will be land banked and idle for years until it is developed into high end condominiums and until people can afford them and our inventory or glut of housing and condominiums is reduced.
A world-class aquarium and marine research center will increase revenue for the City. Just look at all the examples where aquariums have had a huge positive economic impact on their communities, particularly waterfront communities that continue to build them. They are set to have the ground breaking for a new aquarium on the river in Cleveland. They are converting an old historic power plant into an aquarium. The ground breaking for the aquarium was postponed because of the big snow storm they had just recently.
According to a study by Economic Research Associates, the Tennessee Aquarium is credited for creating over 100 new businesses within a few blocks of it, 1600 jobs and putting $132 million in direct and direct spending into the local economy within the first year of opening. Housing developments sprang up all around the aquarium. There are many examples where aquariums have had a huge economic impact on their local economy, including the Maritime Aquarium, Norwalk, Connecticut, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, Oregon and others. Attached are economic impact studies done for the Oregon Coast Aquarium and Maritime Aquarium. Over 99% of the thousands of citizens that participated in Aquarium for Pensacola’s survey said they believe an aquarium will have a positive effect on our economy. The nearest aquariums of the caliber we are proposing are in New Orleans, Atlanta, Orlando, and Tampa, thus making a Pensacola aquarium a regional aquarium.
The fact is aquariums have high operating costs and may receive subsidies or sponsorships. But, before you go criticizing aquariums, you have to look beyond just the aquarium, at the bigger picture and their economic success measured by the impact on the surrounding community. They give back multifold from the support they receive from their communities. By the same token Pensacola leaders of economic development need to be looking at the bigger picture when planning how the ECUA property can best serve our community. Putting construction of more condominiums before an economic engine, which we don’t have now is like putting the cart before the horse.
The facility we are proposing could be developed like the state facility on Dauphin Island, Alabama, but on a much larger scale. The Dauphin Island facility consists of the Estuarium (aquarium) and Sea Lab (marine research center). The Dauphin Island Sea Lab serves a consortium consisting of 24 colleges and universities, all of which are located in Alabama. The facility we are proposing could serve a consortium of landlocked colleges and universities across the country. Just imagine the number of colleges and universities that could be pulled into a national consortium to use the facility. The many students using the research center to conduct research would likely stay in housing located in downtown Pensacola.
The aquarium will be used for education and outreach and to inform visitors and the public of research being conducted at the marine research center and its application in protecting the Gulf ecosystem and marine life. Thus, the aquarium will serve to promote public and corporate support of the research being conducted at the research facility. The aquarium can tie in with the Oriskany and chartered fishing trips by visitors to stock it.
The primary purpose of the marine research center will to conduct research and monitoring of the long term effects of the oil spill on the Gulf ecosystem. Other purposes, include rehab of marine mammals and sea turtles, endangered species breeding and aquaculture research and demonstration. Funding of the aquarium’s operation can come from charges of admission and corporate sponsorships, while the research center would operate from funding it receives from the consortium, grants and corporate sponsorships.
An aquarium and marine research center will help improve our local education system and the education level of our community. They will inspire students to pursue marine biology or other sciences. When considering locating in a community potential employers look for an educated workforce and good school system for their employees. Potential employers also look at the quality of life that amenities like an aquarium and marine research center bring to a community.
We are not proposing City or County funding or earmarks for this project, but will seek funding from appropriations, grants, private investment and funding from corporations. The value of the plant’s tanks, other infrastructure and the property can be used as an investment match to leverage $ millions in grant money.
Listen, I am a biologist, not a businessman or politician and don’t profess to be. I know that we have leadership and talented and skillful individuals in this community capable of making this project a reality. My objective is to get our community and leadership to recognize the opportunity we have here and pull together a team of respected individuals with the talent and skills necessary to make it a reality. I admit that I am not well connected with people who can make it happen. So, I am asking for help in getting leadership and respected individuals with such skills and talents to come forward and help make the aquarium and marine research center reality.
Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you.
Bill Young
President
Aquarium for Pensacola
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To support his belief that the aquarium will work, Young attached a 2003 “ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY For THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK, INC., SOUTH NORWALK, CT” and a 2007 “Oregon Cost Aquarium” report. He has no such study for Pensacola in 2011. He talks about grants to fund and operate it but can’t identify any specific ones.