Cleveland aquarium plans vie for backers

CLEVELAND (AP) — The city needs an aquarium large enough to give visitors a satisfying experience and to generate enough revenue to be financially independent, supporters of a rival plan said.

The nonprofit Cleveland Aquarium Inc. plans to launch a fundraising campaign this summer for a $50 million downtown aquarium that would be built with private and corporate donations.

The move is a response to the Jacobs Investment Group, which announced plans Wednesday to build an aquarium in Cleveland’s once-thriving Flats riverfront entertainment district.

Christopher Bonar, president of Cleveland Aquarium Inc., said he tried to form a partnership with the Jacobs Group, but the two sides disagreed on location and size. He said the aquarium proposed by the Jacobs Group is too small to succeed.

Bonar said raising money from private donations amid a recession will be difficult.

“But we’re not going to give up our effort to bring a first-rate facility here to Cleveland that can be self-sustaining,” said Bonar, a veterinarian at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

The Jacobs Group said it wants to put an aquarium in the ground floor of a restored industrial building by next summer. The cost would be $9 million, and about half has been lined up. The developer is looking for the city, state and county to pick up the other half.