Aquarium Deal for Harborview Center Done

Well, it just got cheaper for the to take over the Harborview Center.

The actual cost for crews to bring the second floor of the shuttered building up to code shrunk another $70,000 since work started in mid August.

And that final cost plays a role in the monthly rent in the lease agreement that the city council unanimously approved at its meeting Thursday.

The city hands over the keys Nov. 1.

"I think it's a win-win for the city and downtown," Mayor Frank Hibbard said.

The costs including to renovate walls, fix ceiling tiles, clean and repair the air conditioning system and inspect the fire alarm and sprinkler system is $107,700.

Officials recently estimated the costs to be $172,587, still far less than the $1 million originally envisioned needed to fix the aging building.

Operational costs are estimated at $16,650 including $900 for water and $15,750 for electricity.

The final cost plays into the monthly rent the aquarium will pay back the city. The city will be recouped its cost to prepare the building through a base monthly rent of 1/30, which is about $4,123.

The parking lots adjacent to the building will be used by aquarium visitors, except during major events, including Jazz Holiday, Super Boat Championship and other large crowd events, then the city has the right to the spaces. Parking for Pickles Plus customers will remain as well.

City crews have worked since about mid August on the 54,000 square feet of the second floor of the one time convention center, where part of the Alcon Entertainment movie Dolphin Tale was filmed a year ago.

With trailers for the movie featuring Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr. and Morgan Freeman playing in theaters already, the aquarium has seen a boost in attendance. Thousands more visitors are expected after the release of the movie Sept. 23.

The aquarium is working on of a $12 million expanded facility including stadium-style seating overlooking a 1.4 million-gallon tank. The hope is the former department store building will help serve as an extension of the attraction while money is raised to complete the new facility.

Movie props and other exhibits will housed in the attraction annex at the Harborview Center. It will cost $127,700 for the aquarium to add a touch tank, gift shop displays, sound system and signs.

In turn, downtown would have a destination other than the. With the entrance along Osceola Avenue, the idea would be to funnel foot traffic onto Cleveland Street.

The overflow facility is expected to bring in about 181,000 people each year.

John Giotis, the headmaster at the School of the Immaculata, which is in St. Petersburg, called the aquarium’s claims for downtown visitors “optimistic assumptions” in an email sent to council members Aug. 17.

Still, after the agreement was approved, Giotis hopes he is wrong about the plan.

“I continue to believe that the aquarium's plans for the Harborview Center is not a successful way to generate economic activity in downtown Clearwater (in the short or long term)," Giotis wrote in a Sept. 2 email to council members. "However, I do appreciate your efforts to revitalize downtown Clearwater and I do hope they prove me wrong even though I don't think they will."