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<br />o <br /> <br />o <br /> <br />o <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />Miami Seaquarium seeks to build aquatic center in Sunny Isles tleach - ULll L/ LU 1 \J - Mia... '"'age 1 or L <br /> <br />~ht liiilllni Hcrnl~ .;~ <br /> <br />Posted on Fri, Feb. 12,2010 <br /> <br />Miami Seaquarium seeks to build aquatic center in <br />Sunny Isles Beach <br /> <br />BY MICAELA HOOD <br />The Miami Herald <br /> <br />~.~.. ' <br /> <br />,~~ <br />" "~:'~'''''";';r. <br />. ,", .-""'~ ,..,." , <br />.-" ~~J:~'.h{~:.~:;' .'... . <br />~,:"'.J.;".'" ~"',,~. _. .q... . <br />.~.....,..:"":....,.-:-...~'.!.1'"e:"... .c..' '~_'_ <br /> <br />." '1 Everyday, busloads of people head over to <br />'. '~the Miami Seaquarium to swim with the <br />dolphins and get up close and personal with <br />stingrays, seals and sharks. Now, Wometco <br />-- the owners of the Key Biscayne tourist <br />attraction -- want to build an aquatic center <br />in Sunny Isles Beach. <br /> <br /> <br />Last month, city commissioners were <br />presented with conceptual design plans for <br />a three-story, 100,000-square-foot center. It <br />would be housed at 151 Sunny Isles Beach <br />Blvd., the present site of a city-owned retail complex. <br /> <br />Wometco Aquatic Center, City of Sunny Isles Beach . <br />Florida. Photo coutesy ofaxioma3architects. <br /> <br />Commissioner George" Bud" Scholl said the site would eventually be torn down -- if the <br />center is given final approval. <br /> <br />"As the leases expire, we're not renewing them," he said. "We want to do something <br />meaningful in that area." <br /> <br />At a meeting on Jan. 28, Wometco CEO Arthur Hertz showed commissioners designs for <br />the proposed center. <br /> <br />"You have a piece of property that's really the entrance way to the city," he said. "We <br />think we can do something that will give you a statement of how people visualize the city <br />when they first come into it." <br /> <br />The indoor attraction would feature a science museum, reef tank, bookstore and gift shop, <br />restaurant, petting pool, meeting room, parking garage, banquet hall and outdoor seating <br />area. <br /> <br />Under the partnership, the city would become landlord to Wometco. <br /> <br />.. Most likely it will be a joint venture and we will lease the land. . . however, it's still too <br />early to say," Scholl said. <br /> <br />City attorney Hans Ottinot said Wometco would pay for the construction costs. <br /> <br />http://www.miamiherald.comlaventura/v-printlstory /1475958. html <br /> <br />2/1 5/20 I 0 <br />