Florida Aquarium

Originally known as the Clearwater Marine Science Center (CMSC), a private non-profit educational organization located on Clearwater Beach, Florida was incorporated in 1977 and by the mid 80’s plans were put in place to expand the center, emphasizing the need for a world-class facility in order to successfully compete as a nationally recognized educational facility in the Florida marketplace, and thus, become financially viable. In 1986 The Florida Aquarium, Inc. was formed and a conceptual design for the new edifice was born. The decision was made to build in the emerging Garrison Seaport Center, an area of downtown Tampa’s waterfront that was undergoing major redevelopment. Educational outreach programs were held throughout the community to create awareness for the project during the time of construction. Located in what is now known as the Channel District, at the time of opening in 1995, the area was an unnamed, run-down part of the port with few surrounding amenities. The high-rise hotels, condominiums and cruise ship berths were years away. On March 31, 1995, The Florida Aquarium opened its doors, serving one million residents of and visitors to the Tampa Bay area and bringing a positive economic impact of $60-million to the community in its first year of operation. 

UDF’s investment in The Florida Aquarium was used to finance a part of an expansion project for the Florida Aquarium’s $15M Rising Tides Capital Campaign which kicked off in 2012. The overall project increased the aquarium with 35,000 square feet of new space and 10,000 square feet of renovated space, including the lobby and main entrance. This project is the end of a successful capital campaign which started in the heart of the worst recession the country has ever had. 

Part of this project consisted of adding on a 7,500-square-foot event center. The event center is designed to draw groups looking for space in downtown Tampa. This fills a much needed capability for the Aquarium whose weddings and event business has skyrocketed in recent years. 250 events are held there annually, and the project expanded the Florida Aquarium’s event facility from a 150-seat room to a massive 8,000-square-foot event area which can seat up to 600 people for conventions, seminars, weddings and other special events. The revenue earned from hosting events helps to fund the non-profit Aquarium’s mission based initiatives including the rescue and rehabilitation of animals and coral propagation work. The enlargement also included major changes to The Florida Aquarium’s learning center, doubling its square footage from 2,000 to 4,000 square feet of space. This center draws tens of thousands of students yearly for learning about marine science in themed classrooms and a fully equipped laboratory with touch tanks, Wi-Fi and live video conference capabilities to allow students to interact with researchers in the field and scientists and other students from around the world. 

With a signature 80-foot glass roof that calls to mind a seashell, the Florida Aquarium is a three-story facility with 153,000 square feet of public exhibit space, classrooms, a 200-seat auditorium, restaurant, community room, a 3,700 square foot gift shop, event space as well as curatorial, maintenance, and engineering space. The main facilities occupy a 4.3-acre swath of waterfront property as well as a 20,000 square foot offsite administrative and office space funded by the Florida Aquarium’s Rising Tides Campaign. The facility is currently home to more than 20,000 aquatic plants and animals from Florida and all over the world. The Florida Aquarium began as the Clearwater Marine Science Center (CMSC), a private non-profit educational organization located on Clearwater Beach,Florida and was incorporated in 1977. The Florida Aquarium is a 501(c)3 nonprofit institution whose mission is to entertain, educate and inspire stewardship about our natural environment. The Florida Aquarium was first accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) in March 1997. It is ranked as one of the best aquariums in the country and top 5 kid-friendly aquariums by Parents Magazine.