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, .......... ....~..n1u..1J..IlU ':>1..1;;1\.':> lV LllIIIU "l\mlll~ l:t:lllcr In ;:)lInny ISles tieaCI1- ULII2ILUIU -!VIla... Page lof2 ~Ilt liiill1ni Httnl~ & o Posted on Fri, Feb. 12,2010 Miami Seaquarium seeks to build aquatic center in Sunny Isles Beach BY MICAELA HOOD The Miami Herald o " .; Everyday, busloads of people head over to , the Miami Seaquarium to swim with the dolphins and get up close and personal with stingrays, seals and sharks. Now, Wometco -- the owners of the Key Biscayne tourist attraction -- want to build an aquatic center in Sunny Isles Beach. Last month, city commissioners were Wometco Aquatic Center. City of Sunny Isles Beach. presented with conceptual design plans for Florida. Photo coutesy ofaxioma3architects. a three-story, 1 OO,OOO-square-foot center. It would be housed at 151 Sunny Isles Beach Blvd., the present site of a city-owned retail complex. Commissioner George" Bud" Scholl said the site would eventually be torn down -- if the center is given final approval. .. As the leases expire, we're not renewing them," he said. "We want to do something meaningful in that area." At a meeting on Jan. 28, Wometco CEO Arthur Hertz showed commissioners designs for the proposed center. "You have a piece of property that's really the entrance way to the city," he said. "We think we can do something that will give you a statement of how people visualize the city when they first come into it." The indoor attraction would feature a science museum, reef tank, bookstore and gift shop, restaurant, petting pool, meeting room, parking garage, banquet hall and outdoor seating area. Under the partnership, the city would become landlord to Wometco. .. Most likely it will be a joint venture and we will/ease the land. . . however, it's still too early to say," Scholl said. City attorney Hans Ottinot said Wometco would pay for the construction costs. o Imp:1 Iwww.miamiherald.comlaventllralv-printlstory/14 75958.l1tml 2/12/20 I 0