Staying a Big Fish : Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Plans Expansion to Counter Construction of Rival Facility

As the only place in the Los Angeles area to explore California marine life without getting wet, the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium has for years enjoyed a monopoly.

Within a couple of years, however, the tiny aquarium will be dwarfed by a new marine life facility under construction in Long Beach.

So what’s a small San Pedro facility to do?

Certainly not panic, said Cabrillo Director Susanne Lawrenz-Miller.

“Marine life is a source of endless fascination,” Lawrenz-Miller said. “In an area as large as Los Angeles, there is certainly room for more than one facility of this type.”

Still, the aquarium run by the city of Los Angeles has its own building plans, if a proposed park bonds measure makes it onto the ballot later this year and is passed. Also, Lawrenz-Miller expects to focus more on marketing to garner support for the expansion project and sustain interest when the Long Beach Aquarium opens.

“We simply don’t have much of a budget for advertising,” she said. “We realize that to achieve our goals for growth we’re going to have to do that.”

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Last year, Cabrillo officials and supporters completed a master plan to expand the facility to about four times its present size at an estimated cost of $46 million. They hope to bring in larger exhibits, build three more classrooms and provide outdoor marine-oriented play structures on the nearby beach.

The Department of Recreation and Parks plans to propose that the aquarium receive $28 million if the bond measure passes. In the meantime, the aquarium’s nonprofit support group will increase its fund-raising efforts.

The 60-year-old aquarium in San Pedro, dedicated completely to California marine life, attracts a growing number of visitors each year to marine biology workshops, a jellyfish farm, a hands-on tide pool exhibit and other offerings. It has 20,000 square feet of interior space, with more than 30 tanks lining the walls of the exhibit hall.

Last year, the aquarium drew more than 450,000 visitors, up from 250,000 in 1981 when it began operating in its present building. Volunteers and staffers led 140,000 free school tours through the aquarium.

The Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, scheduled to open in June 1998, is expected to attract 2 million visitors a year. Construction began on the $100-million facility in November. With 157,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibits, the attraction will feature marine life found throughout the Pacific Ocean.

The aquarium will be the anchor attraction of Queensway Bay, a major development project in Long Beach designed to attract more businesses and tourists. The expanded Long Beach Convention Center, an outdoor amphitheater and a downtown harbor are also included in the project.

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“We’ll occupy a somewhat different niche from the Long Beach Aquarium,” Lawrenz-Miller said. “It’s not so much that we’re a big building with fancy attractions, we’re part of a whole coastal park.”

Although it has cornered the market for several years, Cabrillo is accustomed to competition. When the aquarium moved to its present location, Marineland, a Sea World-type attraction, was operating in nearby Rancho Palos Verdes. Marineland closed in 1987.

Located a short walk from the beach, Cabrillo is both a museum and an aquarium. Inside the one-story gray and white building, small tanks offer a close view of a wide range of Southern California marine life. Displays and television monitors enhance the learning experience. And, in the tide pool touch tank, visitors can feel rough starfish and prickly sea urchins.

Admission to Cabrillo aquarium is free. In addition to about $500,000 a year from the city, the facility receives funding from Friends of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, a nonprofit group, and from special programs. Special programs bring in about $200,000 a year.

Nearly 20,000 people participate in the marine biology workshops each year. And 50,000 people take part in the whale watching excursions. In part because of the high level of interest in programs, Lawrenz-Miller believes that Cabrillo will be able to stand on its own when the competition arrives.