Monday, May 03, 1999
Partners' aquarium dream 10 years old
Plans changed; idea's the same
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — Tom Heekin and Jamie Burchenal's idea to build an aquarium on the Ohio River was born over lunch at a Thai restaurant on Cincinnati's Walnut Street 10 years ago.
“We started out with the idea of a nonprofit organization, on the Ohio River shore in downtown Cincinnati,” Mr. Heekin said. “But it became obvious that it would not work in the Cincinnati riverfront area.
“There was the competing stadiums issue, and public funding just wasn't going to be available.”
So the childhood friends who grew up in Glendale turned their attention to the possibility of a privately funded, privately owned aquarium. Eventually, their dream carried them across the Ohio River to Newport.
“Kentucky moves very quickly on development projects,” Mr. Heekin said with obvious admiration. “The government in Frankfort is very proactive, and we received tremendous support from the state and the city. The entire program was phenomenal.”
They also received the first-ever tourism grant from the state, part of a bill passed in the last General Assembly session that provides tax in centives for tourism-driven development.
With that support, Mr. Heekin, a lawyer, and Mr. Burchenal, a stock broker/financial adviser, created a local five-man partnership that has developed the $40 million Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium that opens May 15.
The two entrepreneurs teamed up with young developer and Cincinnati native Barry Rosenberg, vice president of Steiner & Associates of Columbus, and Dudley Taft, president of Taft Broadcasting, who has an amusements background through former Taft ownership of Paramount's Kings Island.
The fifth member of the team is Will Kreidler, Mr. Burchenal's cousin.
Amram Knishinsky of Phoenix, is chief operating officer of Oceanic Adventures, which is in the aquarium development business.
“We flew to Phoenix with Barry (Rosenberg) and met with Amram,” Mr. Heekin said. “We saw what they had ... all the latest technology, and how very professional and experienced they were. We were impressed, and we knew we needed their expertise.”
Mr. Heekin and Mr. Burchenal, both 38 and who once fished together for bluegills in a family pond at the age of 7, share a love of the outdoors that includes fishing and scuba diving. That passion is evident as they talk about the aquarium.
“You know how it is, when you're a child, you have that sense of excitement about something new,” Mr. Burchenal said. “That's what this is like for us, all over again.”
They admit spending a lot of nonworking hours at the aquarium, and both have donned their scuba gear several times to dive into the shark tank and coral reef display and do cleanup work.
“It has never been work for us,” Mr. Burchenal said as the two strolled through the 84-foot-long clear acrylic tunnel inside the 380,000-gallon shark tank. “We'll dive any chance we get.”
The two old friends have never lost sight of the prime directive they established from the start of their aquarium dream — to educate people about the oceans and rivers and what lives in them, and allow everyone to have some fun while they're learning.
“Our motivation in doing this was the education aspect,” Mr. Heekin said. “That's extremely important to us. We must utilize this opportunity to educate with the aquarium to the fullest. We're very proud of how we are presenting this to the public.”
“Just the opportunity this presents for schoolchildren makes it worth building the aquarium,” Mr. Burchenal added.
Although the aquarium sits on the Kentucky shore rather than in Ohio, and the price has been scaled down from $75 million to $40 million, Mr. Heekin and Mr. Burchenal insist the only real alteration of their original dream is the method of funding.
“The price is lower than we originally discussed, and the square feet is a little less; but the gallons of water is actually more, and that's what really counts,” Mr. Heekin said. “When a project is carried by private funding, you sharpen your pencil and scrutinize every expense. You want everything you can get for your dollar.
“This was Jamie's idea from the beginning,” said Mr. Heekin, a partner in the law firm of Mulholland, Heekin and Heekin. “I have to say it's the best idea he ever had.”
Replied Mr. Burchenal, “Tom was the kind of guy who was just crazy enough to do this with me.”
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