"It's going to be a significant building, an icon," project head Robert Gramann said. "It'll never be confused with any other building on the riverfront."
Mr. Gramann, an architect for GBBN Architects of Cincinnati, which is designing the $40 million project, said the 300-foot-long, 30-foot-high facility will feature an entrance marked by "a large mast or four soaring spires penetrating the front of the building," which will include a 200-foot-wide glass wall.
When the structure opens in May 1999, visitors on the Ohio side will see a sweeping curve, designed to evoke a wave, a shark fin or a mask, Mr. Gramann said.
Once inside, an estimated 1.2 million annual guests will descend via escalator to the depths of the ocean, beginning with the observation of the 64 million-year-old species of moon jellyfish, and eventually rising to the top of the 2 1/2-level, nautically themed structure to view penguins from a vantage point chilled to 60 degrees to provide a sense of the penguin habitat.
The galleries featuring saltwater and freshwater exhibits will focus on four areas - the scary, the beautiful, the bizarre and the edible - as they trace what happens when a single drop of water falls to the ground.
With the help of animation and sound, the interactive exhibits will be entertaining and educational, said project director Edward J. Wimmer of Deutsch Associates, the Phoenix-based firm responsible for much of the interior design and exhibits.
"It's going to be very exciting, very elegant and very dramatic," Mr. Wimmer said.
Special features include a touch pool, where children and others can examine everything from crabs to sea anemones; a theater, which will raise a projection screen after an eight- to 10-minute film to allow a glimpse of a shark swimming in a tank; and an acrylic tunnel through which visitors can glimpse sharks and other exotic creatures from all sides.
Barry Rosenberg, vice president of Steiner and Associates and one of five Greater Cincinnati businessmen in Aquarium Holdings Inc., the partnership that is building the aquarium, said financing will be in place by the group's stated goal of Monday.
"I don't think we would be here today, if it wasn't for the support of the city of Newport and the state of Kentucky," Mr. Rosenberg said.
He described Kentucky's new tourism development act, which will allow aquarium investors to recoup up to 25 percent of the project's cost for up to 10 years in a sales tax rebate, as essential to the project.
"It was what won us over," said Mr. Rosenberg, who recognized the efforts of David Lovelace, deputy secretary of the Tourism Development Cabinet, and State Rep. Jim Callahan, D-Wilder, in helping investors realize their dream. "It took (the state incentives) to make this happen."
Developers say the aquarium will sit about a half-block east of Monmouth Street, spanning a site from the edge of Second Street to the floodwall, with the Taylor Southgate Bridge 200 feet west.
The aquarium will serve as the anchor for Newport Centre, Steiner and Associates' proposed $43 million entertainment district encompassing 10 acres at the northern foot of Monmouth Street. The two projects will share a pedestrian plaza over a 450-car underground garage.
Newport is investing more than $10 million in the project to help with construction of that parking garage, as well as various infrastructure improvements and acquisition of property.
Plans call for demolition of structures at the site to begin by Oct. 1, and construction on the aquarium to begin Nov. 1, Newport city staff and developers said.
About 4 1/2 acres to the east of the aquarium and surrounding entertainment district will be left vacant for future development in the form of additional parking, and more entertainment facilities and attractions, said Steve Kenat, a project designer with GBBN Architects of Cincinnati.
GBBN's recent projects include the renovation of The Crown (the former Riverfront Coliseum), Children's Hospital Medical Center's research center, Laurel Homes and Cincinnati Country Day School.
