Pier Aquarium to Leave St. Petersburg After 23 Years

ST. PETERSBURG – The Pier Aquarium is moving to larger quarters on Madeira Beach.

The nonprofit aquarium, which has been a primary attaraction for people visiting the city Pier, will re-open at John's Pass Village at Madeira Beach. The expanded Aquarium will be known as the Marine Discovery Center and Aquarium.

The name will change again as the Aquarium is rebranded. There will be "renaming opportunities," as part of a $3 million fund-raising campaign to be announced at a later date.

News of the Aquarium's closing was quietly posted Tuesday on the Pier Aquarium's website. The Aquarium's last day at the Pier was not disclosed, but its reopening at John’s Pass Village on Madeira Beach will take place at the end of 2012.

The 's departure is another blow for advocates hoping to preserve the Pier, as city officials consider plans for redeveloping the downtown waterfront site. The Aquarium serves as the centerpiece and anchor for shops and restaurants at the city Pier.

Established in 1988, The Pier Aquarium is a private, non-profit aquarium and marine education center. It showcases 17 tanks of live fish and other marine life and educational exhibits on the first and second floors. An outdoor marine laboratory and teaching unit, the Roy G. Harrell, Jr. Education Station, is located on the Pier approach.

When the Pier Aquarium leaves, so will many of the tourists and visitors who took part in marine-related activities hosted by the Aquarium.

More than 85,500 visitors, including 27,000 who participate in scheduled educational programs, visit the Pier Aquarium annually.

When the Pier Aquarium moves to John's Pass Village, it also will expand. The new 11,500 square foot facility will more than triple the current exhibit space; it is scheduled to open by the end of 2012.

The Pier Aquarium Fan Page on Facebook drew only eight comments Tuesday night about the move. Most were positive. "Your new area is way more fun!" wrote one commenter. "Wow! I love John's Pass... hmm no more 'Pier' Aquarium?" was another comment.

In its new home, the attraction will have state-of-the-art marine research, innovation and technology being developed by the St. Petersburg Ocean Team and other marine related agencies and organizations.

Four major new exhibits will debut - Science on a Sphere, Planet Water, Ocean Today and Climate Change – as well as the addition of larger live exhibits and an expanded Touch Tank.

"By marrying cutting-edge technology with live marine exhibits, MDCA will entertain and engage our visitors and create appreciation for our planet’s marine environment, above and under water,” said Board Chair and USF Professor of Marine Science, Mark Luther, Ph.D. "We will show visitors a world they cannot see anywhere else.”

MDCA will occupy the first and second floors in John’s Pass Village, adjacent to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and the new Hooters restaurants. "The Marine Discovery Center & Aquarium is a wonderful addition to John’s Pass Village, already a great shopping and dining destination,” said Patricia Hubbard, CEO of Hubbard Properties which owns the building. "We can now offer our visitors, and especially our local families, a full day of quality entertainment in one convenient waterfront location.”

"With direct access to both the bay and Gulf of Mexico, MDCA will serve as an expanded resource for teachers and students for tours, projects and special programs. Currently, more than 30,000 students participate in our education programs,” said MDCA President & CEO E. Howard Rutherford.

Rutherford said master planning and naming opportunities are in development. A $3 million capital campaign will be announced later this year.