Georgia Aquarium Articles ...

ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION
5/30/03
Fanfare launches aquarium
Downtown anchor promised
By DAVID PENDERED

The Georgia Aquarium that will open in 2005 is shaped like a modern Noah's ark, with a towering translucent bow lit from within that will stand as a new beacon of hope for downtown Atlanta.

The $200 million aquarium is a gift from Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus to the city and state where he and Arthur Blank started a retail business that became a Fortune 500 empire.

At the groundbreaking Thursday, Marcus portrayed the aquarium as the needed anchor for efforts to revitalize downtown while showcasing aquatic animals that live in threatened waters.

"It looks like an ark, [and] we built it around the theme of the ark," a jubilant Marcus told hundreds of business and political leaders assembled at the construction site next to Centennial Olympic Park.

"It's a symbol of a vessel of preservation with the purpose of being used for the education [about] and the promotion of marine life conservation," Marcus said. "That's really what this whole thing is about, and I think you're going to find it very exciting."

With the flush of a proud father, Marcus rattled off some highlights of the attraction.

The 400,000-square-foot Georgia Aquarium will:

• House more than 50,000 aquatic animals from about 500 species collected around the world.

• Contain more than 5 million gallons of fresh and salt water.

• Have a parking deck for 1,800 cars, with additional spaces for school buses.

• Provide reception space that will accommodate sit-down dinners for 1,200 and space for functions for 12,000 to 15,000 guests.

• Recycle all its water once an hour, consuming no more water each day than a supermarket or office building.

• Attract at least 2 million visitors a year -- a "slam dunk" prediction, he said.

• Feature a smiling orange guppy mascot named Deepo.

Marcus said the aquarium alone cannot transform downtown, and he implored the influential crowd to muster their resources to turn the neighborhood into a safe and inviting place for families to return "over and over and over."

Changing the environment "is going to take some thinking on the part of everybody in this community," Marcus said. "We're going to have to make some very strong investments in infrastructure. We need to make this place safe not only because of us, but if someone comes from Seattle . . . we want them to say the experience was so good that [their friends] have to come here."

Gov. Sonny Perdue, who also spoke at the ceremony, suggested the state may pay for road and signage improvements in downtown, but he made no specific commitment.

Marcus said such upgrades are essential to ensuring that visitors will encourage others to visit the Georgia Aquarium as well as the new World of Coca-Cola scheduled to open next door in 2006, the soft drink giant's 120th anniversary.

A downtown business group, Central Atlanta Progress, has identified $30 million in upgrades to sidewalks, signs and streetscapes around the aquarium.

Perdue acknowledged Marcus' request for the infrastructure enhancements. "You were never bashful, [and] you put the order in again today for the participation of the state," Perdue said. "We look forward to being here with you and the World of Coke . . . to again make this the terminus destination for citizens all over the world."

The governor said he supports Marcus' efforts to bolster the convention and tourism trade in Atlanta.

"Tourism is the second-largest industry in the state," Perdue said. "As these two attractions rise from the ground, they are going to add to the vitality of downtown and strengthen Georgia's appeal as a convention and tourism destination."

After months of keeping details secret, Marcus continued Thursday to keep some things close to the vest. He teased the applauding crowd repeatedly, saying details would be dribbled out to build excitement for the aquarium, which he said will open sometime in 2005.

"We're going to give everybody some information today, but not everything," Marcus said. "We have two years before this thing is finally open, and we want to give you pieces of it as it opens and as it begins to unfold."

Marcus answered few questions about issues that will be important to future visitors, such as the price of admission, operating times or even what kinds of animals will be on display.

He did say the aquarium will be overseen by a nonprofit corporation run by a board of directors. And he emphasized that because of his personal donation of $200 million, the aquarium will debt-free, making it unique among such attractions in the United States.

"When it opens, it will have no debt whatsoever [and] will have cash flow from the day it opens," he said. "The success of the aquarium will be assured by how well this board of directors [manages it]. And we're looking for candidates today."

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin delivered a few brief and upbeat comments.

"It's a great day in Atlanta!" she proclaimed at the city's second significant groundbreaking this month. Franklin turned a shovel May 14 for the first residences at Atlantic Station, a planned $2 billion development in Midtown where Marcus once had intended to build the aquarium.

Franklin harked back to her days as a senior executive in the organizing committee for Atlanta's 1996 Olympic Games. She said the aquarium presents similar opportunities and challenges. And she suggested the city will use the two new attractions to vitalize downtown.

Marcus suggested the attractions will have a strong economic impact for both the city and the state: "When you bring people in they're going to spend money, and spending money is going to create jobs in this state and create an environment where this state can prosper better than it ever did before."

With broad brush strokes, he addressed several concerns that have lingered over his gift.

Marcus said he decided to give an aquarium because he and his wife, Billi, like aquariums and think the Georgia Aquarium will appeal to people from all walks of life.

Addressing criticism that an aquarium would waste Atlanta's precious water resources, Marcus emphasized that the sophisticated treatment plant will conserve water.

Marcus dismissed complaints by animal rights advocates that aquariums are prisons for sea life that should be left free in their habitat.

Near the end of the feel-good ceremony, Marcus had a final gift for those who shared the stage with him. He presented neckties featuring whimsical sea creatures to Perdue, who had commented on Marcus' flashy tie, Coca-Cola Chairman Doug Daft and former Coke President Don Keough. To Franklin, Marcus presented a fish pin to join the large orange corsage she wore -- a nod to the orange mascot Deepo.



© 2003 Atlanta-Journal Constitution