Plans for new Morro Bay aquarium show a gleaming building with views of the Rock
A highly anticipated design for the proposed new Morro Bay aquarium includes interactive hands-on exhibits, a classroom and meeting space in a glass-sided building that looks out on Morro Rock.
The nonprofit Central Coast Aquarium, which has a small aquarium in Avila Beach, presented the project proposal to the Morro Bay City Council on Tuesday in conjunction with Cal Poly’s Center for Coastal Marine Sciences.
The concept design was part of the aquarium organizers’ planning process before they launch a full-fledged fundraising campaign in hopes to raise $10 million to $12 million.
The fundraising, which could include public grants, would cover costs to replace the shuttered Morro Bay Aquarium in the same location on Morro Bay’s Embarcadero with a new, modernized downtown attraction.
Council members expressed support for proceeding with project planning with a scheduled July meeting to address a consent-of-landowner agreement, which would entail lease terms likely to be below-market value.
“We need this in this community,” Morro Bay Mayor John Headding said. “It has significant possibility to draw tourism and exposure to a wonderful undersea experience ... This moves the needle and it’s nice to see this quickly moving forward.”
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The design for the new Morro Bay aquarium includes a two-story layout with around 20 individual hands-on exhibits. The first floor would feature living aquatic exhibits, including one that can be viewed by the public from the harbor walkway outside.
Plans for the second floor envision flexible classroom and meeting space, a small administrative and volunteer office area and open spaces with temporary exhibits and exploration tables.
Christine Johnson, Central Coast Aquarium’s executive director, said the aquarium organizers will pursue permitting to use seawater from the bay for some of the Morro Bay aquarium’s tank exhibits, discharging some of that water into the city’s wastewater treatment system.
The city would need to sign off on the saltwater discharge, and discussions are expected to take place on that over the next few months.
The Central Coast Aquarium is hoping a significant donation — in the realm of at least $500,000 or $1 million — would help jumpstart a fundraising campaign within the first year of the drive.
The nonprofit will begin its fundraising effort once lease terms are established that are “in line with the feasibility study results,” ensuring project success after operation, Johnson said.
“This was really the first step, for the city to be on board with the design,” Johnson said. “The council had to be on track.”
Private gifts could help ‘revitalize’ Morro Bay waterfront
Neither the nonprofit nor the city has the budget to fund the project, which would rely on private gifts.
Cal Poly contributed 20% of the cost of the $38,200 design concept completed by RRM Design and Tenji Aquarium Design, a Carmel-based firm that specializes in aquarium projects. Morro Bay businesses contributed most of the design funding, Johnson said.
“The aquarium would really revitalize Morro Bay, if not the community and the waterfront,” Johnson said.
The new proposal would replace a deteriorating aquarium that was operated by the Tyler family in Morro Bay until its lease expired in 2018.
Johnson said the new aquarium would emphasize the ecology of the estuary, including a feature on the eel grass and animals in the mudflats that are critical to the bay’s ecosystem.
Sealife exhibits would include multiple touch tanks, filled with animals such as jellyfish and rays, Johnson added. The center also has discussed showcasing oysters and otters, also key bay attractions.
“The goal of the aquarium is to focus on the unique estuary and open ocean environment by providing opportunities for immersive, interactive marine science learning in order to encourage good stewardship of the estuary and the ocean now and into the future,” the city’s staff report stated.
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