The New Cleveland Aquarium
Last week Cleveland received a jolt of good news when it was reported in the Plain Dealer that local development group - Jacobs Investments announced a decision to build an aquarium at its PowerHouse facility in the Flats. This is an awesome announcement. I have been a huge proponent of an aquarium. On my other blog - Cool History of Cleveland - I wrote passionately about the old Cleveland Aquarium, which can still be seen while driving east on I-90 near E. 79th. It was a beautiful old structure and I hope that someone will come up with an idea for the old facility.
Nonetheless, the Jacobs Investments group should be applauded. This is a genius idea. The facility is slated in the summer of 2010 as is expected to bring 400,000 to 500,000 visitors annually to the aquarium. I approve of the location - a big aquarium right on the banks of the Cuyahoga River. This really could be a special development. A development, I hope, that spurs further redevelopment of the Flats. I suspect my only disappointment is the rather diminutive size of the facility at a rather paltry 55,000 square feet. However, I suspect that the Jacobs Investment group has additional plans for the aquarium and the PowerHouse. We will see but in the interim the City should rally behind this critical development.
