National Ottawa Aquarium???

[vpilieci]

It has recently come to my attention that there once was a movement within this city to build a National Aquarium. The idea is not only intriguing to me as a recreational Ichthyologist or aquarist, but also as a resident of the city. Aside from the parliament buildings this city really has no major attractions to bring in tourists, help educate our youth and provide much needed entertainment for families. I'm sorry but even the museums in this city are lagging compared to the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, which recieves mucho city denero. To top that off "the big smoke" has the Toronto Zoo... a world class facility by any measure. I'm not a TO advocate, just someone who is trying to find out what happened to that Aquarium movement.... it seems to me it would be a welcome addition here.  I'd like to get involved in starting it up again... if anyone can provide any info. it would be appreciated.

VP

[ambushman2j]

Is there not any other site they could build upon?

[dpatte]

Maybe in the OLD museum of war? i hear its being vacated

[cerickson]

That would be great...


I think it would be a great idea if we petitioned or lobbyed city council to raise the issue.. I'm not sure how much members we have, but regardless i'm sure a lot of residents in the city would love to have an aquarium here.. It would be great... Plus they (the city) could probably get some fed or prov funding as well.

[dpatte]

besides aquarists, i once heard that Ottawa had the highest per capita number of scuba divers of any city in the world.

A totally unbeleivable stat - but if its true, these would also be cousins to enlist in action towards a national aquarium. So would all the naturalists/biologists in the city - the Ottawa field naturalists club has 800 members, i believe.

[cerickson]

We should look into getting ahold of the other organisations in the city that may be interested in the project and going from there.

[ambushman2j]

what would even be better is (if) we were successful in getting them to "build it" getting a "to some degree" partnership between them and ovas, and no doubt there being an aquarium would boost LFS business which would in turn pop up new stores and increase overall selection!

[cerickson]

Absolutely.. The  externalities would be great for us and the city... both on the individual and commmercial level..


Plus, with an OVAS partnership, we could probably get something out of it as well.. plus a great place to hold meetings and events.


Now where to start is the question.. ideas?

[vpilieci]

I think the place to start is by raising funds ourselves... the city has no money right now and if they are approached with a questions like, "do you want to build an aquarium?" the answer will certainly be no! But, If money was raised for the cause, sponsors brought onboard (sorry to all the non-corporate types, but a Nortel/Alcatel/Cognos sponsorship of something like this would almost ensure that it gets built... the name of the place would prolly reflect the sponsorship). By doing this you attract attention and support... ie:divers + naturists + local educational groups + touism operators... then you go to the city and say give us the space to build this.... at that point they can't say no. It would be against public opinion.

just my 0.02

VP

[dpatte]

ie:divers + naturists + local educational groups + touism operators

I think you mean 'naturalists' unless you where hoping for a national NUDIST public aquarium

[vpilieci]

hey, don't knock nudists... they spend big bucks on vacations down south... we only need a little from a lot and woila!!!  :wink:

VP

[cerickson]

Ok then.. funding....


we need to work out some form of strategy here..  

Personally, i'm for all the corporate sponsership we can get. They are the ones with the big bucks, and the desire to spend it.


Plus, we could probably do some sort of fundraising to get general donations..

We could write to the newspapers and get some media attention so residents of the city know about the campaign and get interested..  

There are also other community groups in the city aside from ones directly related to fishkeeping or scuba diving.. Family groups or just plain neighbourhood groups might help out as well...