Aquarium Nearly a Third Complete

A year after Long Beach officials dubbed it a cornerstone of the city’s economic future, the Aquarium of the Pacific is building on its lead to become the first world-class aquarium in Southern California.

Construction of the $100-million project is about one-third complete, aquarium executives estimate, with the foundation in place and pipes already reaching out to the Long Beach Harbor for fresh shipments of ocean water.

“We’re on schedule and on budget,” aquarium vice president Jim Hancock said.

The project received a substantial boost from the federal government last week in the form of a $6-million grant that will pay half the cost of a five-level parking structure near the aquarium in downtown Long Beach. Aquarium officials have agreed to donate $1.5 million toward the garage, while a $4-million city-financed revenue bond is expected to cover the balance.

With 21 diverse exhibits portraying marine life and habitats across the Pacific Ocean, the aquarium is to be the anchor of a Queensway Bay development project that planners hope will draw millions of tourists a year to restaurants, shops and boat landings.

Skeptics continue their crusade against the aquarium, however. Most recently, a former councilman and former harbor commissioner sued the city over concerns that the aquarium’s public financing will force maintenance cutbacks elsewhere. Others doubt that the tourist attraction will be able to cover its debts.

Still, project directors are forging ahead at a pace that has left potential competitors far behind. Similar large-scale aquariums proposed for San Pedro, Pico Rivera, Oxnard and Santa Barbara have yet to begin construction, casting doubt on their feasibility.

“We believe that there can be only one great aquarium in this [Southern California] market, and we’re going to be it,” said Robert Paternoster, director of the Queensway Bay Project.

So far, none of the 12,000 marine animals expected to live at the aquarium have arrived, though plans are being made to ship in some from as far away as Micronesia and Russia.

The aquarium’s grand opening is set for the summer of 1998.