Councilman Chris Taylor supports the Virginia Beach Aquarium. He is quoted as saying “This is our aquarium, this is not a political stunt. Slow down and listen to their concerns. Slow down and collaborate with them. We ignored them and went in a direction that we are now trying to rewrite.”
During Tueday’s meeting, councilman Chris Taylor said there will now be a city council liaison that will work alongside the aquarium foundation to attend their meetings.
“I am asking all the citizens out there weather you live in district 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, to watch this progress,” Taylor said.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach City Council members voted on Tuesday to continue the city’s partnership with the Virginia Aquarium.
This comes more than a year after the Virginia Aquarium Foundation asked the city for $207-287 million for renovations, repairs and to potentially double the size of the aquarium. Soon after this pitch, city leaders started looking into whether or not they should turn the aquarium over to a private entity. The foundation has operated the aquarium under a partnership with the city since opening in 1986.
Recently, the partnership faced concerns after several council members said they were pressured to approve funding for a renovation request.
On Aug. 28, as 10 On Your Side’s Brett Hall reported, aquarium foundation members and the council met to figure out how to move forward. It marks the first time aquarium foundation chair Daniel Peterson addressed the council in-person.
City leaders were concerned about the lack of details coming from the more than $200 million renovation proposal. On the other hand, aquarium leaders spoke about how the exhibits are showing their age — especially the seal, turtle and shark tanks. Our cameras captured the response from councilwoman Amelia Ross-Hammond when Peterson asked for a “seat at the table.”
“…They have this whole foundation,” Ross-Hammond said. “Where were they? It shows as though that they were not on the same page.”
“The foundation is not perfect, and in hindsight, going back, there’s numerous things that I would have handled differently,” Peterson responded.
During Tueday’s meeting, councilman Chris Taylor said there will now be a city council liaison that will work alongside the aquarium foundation to attend their meetings.
“I am asking all the citizens out there weather you live in district 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10, to watch this progress,” Taylor said. “This is our aquarium, this is not a political stunt. Slow down and listen to their concerns. Slow down and collaborate with them. We ignored them and went in a direction that we are now trying to rewrite.”
Members of the aquarium foundation have told the city, they believe not doing a renovation would cause a decrease in visitors, potentially forcing them to close in the future.
