VIRGINIA BEACH — For the first time since the city started looking into privatizing the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, the foundation that owns the animals and exhibits publicly shared its desire to be a part of any future decisions.
Dan Peterson, chair of the Virginia Aquarium Foundation, addressed the City Council at a meeting Tuesday.
“I don’t know if a third-party operator is viable or not,” Peterson said. “I don’t know if the foundation could take on more of an operating role. We need to assess all of these different factors, and we need to assess all of these different business models so that we can come back to council.”
The price tag on a multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion of the aquarium presented to the City Council last year was an estimate and not an engineered proposal, Peterson said, and while the facility’s tanks are aging, their actual condition has not been formally assessed.
The city operates the aquarium and owns its buildings. The City Council decided last year to explore the option of private ownership of the aquarium after learning the tanks that hold the animals are deteriorating and will cost millions to repair. Two private entities, the owners of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and Dollywood, expressed interest.