Study: New aquarium
would be among
top isle attractions

The proposed Kakaako
facility could draw 775,000
visitors annually

By Peter Wagner
Star-Bulletin

Will a world-class $60 million aquarium at Kakaako's "Point Panic" hold water?

Consultants hired by the Hawaii Community Development Authority say such an attraction would draw at least 775,000 visitors a year and net $3.5 million in receipts.

According to a new study by California consulting firm The Lyon Group, the aquarium would cost $36 million to $60 million and need about 66,000 square feet of indoor space, plus outdoor areas.

Details of the market study -- the second of three feasibility studies planned -- were presented yesterday at a meeting of the Hawaii Community Development Authority. The state agency, which owns 212 acres of land makai of Ala Moana next to Kewalo Basin, has its eye on a seven-acre parcel at the western tip of the basin overlooking popular surfing spot Point Panic.

According to HCDA Director Jan Yokota, private funds would have to be raised to operate the aquarium as a nonprofit organization.

The agency has spent about $100,000 of $1 million appropriated by the state Legislature to study the feasibility of an aquarium on state property in Kakaako.

The envisioned aquarium would compare to top mainland aquariums, including California's Monterey Bay Aquarium, and would replace the Waikiki Aquarium, Yokota said.

Bruce Carlson, director of the Waikiki Aquarium, has pushed for such a world-class aquarium in Hawaii for 20 years. He said the 44-year-old Waikiki Aquarium, while appealing to most visitors, also can be disappointing.

"The Waikiki Aquarium is a wonderful little aquarium but it just doesn't meet the expectations of visitors or residents," said Carlson. He said the new aquarium should be on the water's edge, allowing interaction with reefs and ocean activities. And the aquarium should have space for large tanks and displays.

The Kakaako site, he said, would lend itself to a "campus" of related activities, such as marine research now carried out nearby by the University of Hawaii and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

If market studies hold true, the aquarium would be a bigger attraction than the Honolulu Zoo, which drew 600,000 visitors last year, or Sea Life Park, which reported 460,000, according to the Lyons report.

By comparison, the USS Arizona Memorial had 1.4 million visitors and the Waikiki Aquarium 360,000 last year, the report says.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, one of the nation's most successful, drew more than 2 million visitors and made a profit of $19 million last year.

The next step, said Yokota, is preparation of a more detailed site plan. Meanwhile, HCDA is seeking developers for 18 acres of waterfront property near the proposed aquarium.