Wednesday, May 12, 1999

Patton enjoys Aquarium preview

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BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ky. Gov. Paul Patton watches a sand tiger shark swim overhead. Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        NEWPORT — Not every tank contained fish when Gov. Paul Patton visited the Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium on Tuesday, but aquarium officials said that won't be the case when the facility opens to the public Saturday.

        “Every tank will have fish in it when we open,” aquarium general manager John Tighe said. “We haven't tried to rush any of the animals into the exhibits. All the species must be introduced gradually, and we are still doing that.”

        As the governor toured the $40 million aquarium with his wife, Judi, and a group of first- and second-grade students from Newport's Fourth Street School and Cincinnati Country Day School, he occasionally passed through areas where the tanks displayed light, air, plants and rocks, but no fish. Others, like the 380,000-gallon shark tank, were filled with fish.

        Mr. Tighe said the aquarium's staff of marine biologists and fish experts is working day and night between now and Friday evening to have everything ready when the first visitors come through the doors at 10 a.m. Saturday.

        The ornately designed tanks in the jellyfish gallery, for example, were empty Tuesday, but aquarium public relations director Lisa Popyk said the delicate, umbrella-shaped creatures were on their way from the West Coast and are expected to arrive today.

        “The only tank that might be empty on Saturday is the home of the giant Pacific octopus,” she said. “They are very delicate animals and are affected by things like water temperature and salt content. Everything must be exactly right, and our people won't put the octopus into the tank until they are satisfied the conditions are perfect.”

        The giant octopus is already in town, residing in a holding tank at the aquarium's warehouse.

        Mr. Patton bought the first general admission ticket Tuesday as he and some of the aquarium partners, including Barry Rosenberg, Tom Heekin Jr., Jamie Burchenal and Dudley Taft, exchanged gifts.

        Mr. Rosenberg emphasized that the governor and the Kentucky General Assembly made the aquarium possible by passing a tourism bill that provided financial incentives to the developers.

        “This is one more important event in this great society of Northern Kentucky,” Mr. Patton said. “This is exactly what the (tourism bill program) was designed to do ... a major destination attraction.”

        About 10,000 of the 20,000 people who are aquarium charter members visited the facility last weekend, and Ms. Popyk said the aquarium ran the risk of opening for members without all of the displays finished.

        “We had a lot of members who wanted to go through the aquarium ahead of the public,” she said. “We explained that we were still filling some of the displays with animals, and everyone seemed to accept that. They'll come back to see the fish they missed.”

        When the aquarium opens Saturday, officials expect to provide enough on-site and nearby parking for a capacity turnout.

        “Our traffic engineers have told us that at maximum capacity in the aquarium, we would need 700 parking places,” Ms. Popyk said. “With our own parking and nearby private lots, we have more than enough.”

        The aquarium can handle about 1,200 people per hour, and traffic engineers said there is an average of 2.3 people per car at an attraction like the aquarium.

        Handicapped access through ground-level elevators is ready, but parents bringing their children to the aquarium in strollers will have to exchange them in the lobby for backpack child carriers, which are provided free. They can retrieve their strollers as they leave.

       

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