To no one’s surprise, the Channelside-based Florida Aquarium’s initial response to news that the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is proposing to build a bigger, splashier facility was sans cartwheels and kudos. Last year, the 18-year-old, 152,000-square-foot Florida Aquarium drew, once again, about 650,000 visitors. The undersized Clearwater Marine Aquarium drew–thanks to its Winter’s Dolphin Tale Adventure–about 750,000. A new 200,000-square-foot version is optimistically projected to draw more than 2 million in the grand-opening year of 2017.
This may not be a two-primo-aquarium market. If it is, it would be a first.
But acknowledge this. Despite the proximity and the regional identification, we’re still talking two separate–and decidedly different–markets. One is tourist dependent. The other isn’t; it’s the business hub of Tampa Bay. One has a downtown that is trying to separate itself from a suffocating, image-undermining Church of Scientology identity. The other is proceeding on an arts-residential-entertainment-amenities morph.
For Clearwater, a bigger, better, world-class aquarium in a venue proximate to one of the world’s best beaches is a natural. And with the Dolphin Tale connection, it seems negligent not to try. Moreover, it helps nobody that one of the premier scenic venues in the region, Clearwater Harbor Bluff, is currently home to Clearwater’s City Hall. The three-story facility, which sits on a city-owned site, has all the architectural charm of early USF.
Let’s take the high road here, as Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who’s no David Foster when it comes to regionalism, did. In general, the more beacons that draw visitors to the Tampa Bay area, the better, the mayor pointed out. “If Clearwater succeeds, then Tampa succeeds,” diplomatically stated Buckhorn.
Former Clearwater Mayor Frank Hubbard, who’s understandably enamored of the prospect of more visitors to his city’s downtown, is beyond sanguine. “This is the right thing at the right place at the right time,” he underscored in a Buckhornian sound bite. Buoyantly added current Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos: “It’s a potential game-changer for downtown.”
We’ll give the last word for now to Buckhorn. “And so while it may appear to be direct competition, it may also be complementary,” he noted generously.
Actually, this may be a teachable moment.
The Tampa Bay region realizes its considerable potential only by maximizing the synergy inherent in all its key contributing pieces. This goes for energizing downtown Clearwater with an infusion of tourists. But it also means expediting a new, Lens-inspired business model in St. Petersburg, properly positioning a baseball stadium in Tampa and strategically implementing mass transit throughout the region.
The voluble Buckhorn played it as he should. Let that be an example for his Tampa Bay peers.