PHOENIX — About a ton of delicately packaged tropical fish, sharks and turtles have arrived in Arizona to prepare for the opening of the state's largest public aquarium.
The aquarium, an extension of the Wildlife World Zoo in Litchfield Park west of Phoenix, will have 180,000 gallons of exhibits. That's more than quadruple the size of the Phoenix Zoo's aquarium.
The new aquarium is holding its grand opening Dec. 29.
Cities in western metro Phoenix plan to maximize the tourism potential by cross-promoting the aquarium with nearby professional sports arenas. Aquariums generate an average of $35 million in annual economic activity, according to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The aquarium brings the Phoenix area up to speed with peer metro areas, including San Diego, Las Vegas and Denver, each of which has major aquariums in its cultural catalogs.
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"In Arizona it is particularly important because we don't have an ocean on our border," said Eric Proctor, environmental-education coordinator with the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
Planning for the aquarium started four years ago when Wildlife World Zoo owner Mickey Ollson requested new animals through the International Species Inventory System, a national registry of zoo animals raised in captivity.
To date, Ollson's expenses total $7 million, kept low because he already owned the land, general contracting was done in-house and many of the animals were gifts from fisheries and aquariums across the country.
In the case of some of the turtles in the exhibit, Ollson said they were brought into the country illegally and confiscated by authorities.
The exhibits span three buildings totaling 35,000 square feet, equal in size to a small department store.
They are the first phase of a consumer-driven, 10-year-out plan that will reach 130,000 square feet, about the size of a shopping center.
A log-flume ride that floats through a giant fish tank was Ollson's most expensive undertaking.
Two displays are inspired by the movies "Finding Nemo" and "March of the Penguins." One features clown fish, sea anemones and natural coral made popular by the Disney/Pixar movie. Another showcases black-footed penguins, a warm-weather version of the waddling bird that is native to South Africa. Other exhibits range from Arizona trout to piranhas from the Amazon.
The aquarium isn't likely going to attract national crowds on its own, said Sharolyn Hohman, Southwest Valley Chamber of Commerce president.
But she said synergy between the aquarium and nearby sports facilities is expected to boost area sales-tax revenues and steal hotel guests from other area cities.
Ollson is counting on that spillover traffic to turn a profit. In 2007, his zoo brought in $4 million in revenue and was ranked the state's 13th-most-visited private attraction by the Arizona Office of Tourism, just above Phoenix International Raceway.
He expects that revenue to jump 50 percent by 2009 and is looking to break even in three to four years.
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