January 24, 2005
Proposed Toronto may be in for trouble
The proposed waterfront aquarium, announced with great fanfare a few weeks ago, will be a money-loser according to an article in today's Toronto Star.
According to the paper, which spoke to experts in developing aquariums across North America, the aquarium proposal fails to meet any of the three criteria of success for facilities of this kind.
The aquarium will be in a poor location (on the end of the exhibition grounds furthest from downtown and far from anything else anyone will want to visit), it will likely start its life saddled with debt (it is estimated it will cost more than $100-million to build, all of which will have to be funded privately), and it will not have any of the exhibits that tend to draw people in because all mammals (dolphins, whales, otters - anything that gives birth to cute babies) will be excluded from the facility.
On this last point, I would like to point out the hypocrisy. City Councillor Joe Pantelone says,"There are restrictions: no mammals in this aquarium. Mammals are biologically our cousins and it would be completely inappropriate"
Last time I checked, Joe, you and your fellow City Councillors were running a Zoo that features a whole bunch of your "cousins." Are you planning on shutting down, the tiger exhibit? Be honest, you caved in to the "no marine mammals" lobby. There's no shame in it, except that your decision may be killing any chance the aquarium has to succeed.
But hypocrisy aside, you have to wonder why any private sector company would have anything to do with this project.
According to the Star's, it will cost an estimated $30,000 per day to operate and a $100-million mortgage would yield interest payments of over $6.4-million per year for 30 years. Assuming the City is right when it says that 1 million people will ride the inadequate public transit to visit the aquarium every year, and that it will make a profit of $11-million, the aquarium will have to charge at least $18 as an average admission (there would be higher rates for adults, lower rates for children). By contrast, the adult admission fee at the Vancouver Aquarium is $16.50.
For a family of four, taking public transit, the total cost would then be about $80 (assuming the TTC doesn't raise rates - which it will). That is an expensive half-day of holiday entertainment, 15-20 minutes from downtown by streetcar. I wouldn't take the family, would you?
Further Reading:
Aquarium dilemma
Posted by maxthecat at January 24, 2005 09:40 AM
http://www.maxsmewsings.com/mt/archives/2005/01/proposed_toronto_may_be_in_for_trouble.php