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Downtown Aquarium At 410 Bagby St.


houstonsemipro

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The GRB TopGolf idea lives on!! Heh, I still think it would be a great draw for the corporate workers on extended lunch breaks or after hours, and something fun for conventioneers to do while staying nearby. Not to mention an additional entertainment attraction for the inner city residents. If only they could work out the economics to make all of that financially feasible.

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He tried to build an observation tower when he built the aquarium but the city denied him. Or am I remembering incorrectly?

A brief search shows you are correct ...back in 2002, a 200 ft observation tower was planned as part of the Aquarium.

http://m.chron.com/business/article/City-developer-Fertitta-bank-on-Kemah-theme-2122523.php

EDIT: I guess he never dropped the idea lol

454f67db788b959bf4021d12f063104b.jpg

Edited by tigereye
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Well, I guess this is trying to fill a void in Houston. Agree that we could use a real aquarium--a draw like that could be an anchor to revitalize and develop the KBR site.

 

Hate to break to all you knee-jerk Landry haters, but the Downtown Aquarium is a "real" aquarium, accredited and everything.  It may not be the world's largest aquarium, but it is indeed real and not insignificant.

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A brief search shows you are correct ...back in 2002, a 200 ft observation tower was planned as part of the Aquarium.

http://m.chron.com/business/article/City-developer-Fertitta-bank-on-Kemah-theme-2122523.php

EDIT: I guess he never dropped the idea lol

 

 

The design for the observation tower was widely criticized, so I guess they thought better of it.  I have a rendering I can post later.

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Hate to break to all you knee-jerk Landry haters, but the Downtown Aquarium is a "real" aquarium, accredited and everything. It may not be the world's largest aquarium, but it is indeed real and not insignificant.

I'm not one of the described "landrys haters", in fact I'm glad Fertitta has a small piece of downtown to call his own.. But...

Of course it's a "real" aquarium.. But that doesn't change the fact that it is first and foremost a restaurant (I won't even get into the carnival rides). It would just be nice to have it be more of a destination that people can go to to learn about and explore the underwater environment.

I'm down with the restaurant. I like that it's incorporated with the aquariums. But couldn't this expansion land be less focused on carnival rides and more focused on the learning aspect of an aquarium by building more aquatic environments/aquarium tanks? The Landrys aquarium/restaurant in Denver has twice as much tank space.. (1 million gallons vs 500,000). I know some people don't like Sea World or the idea of training animals to do things for our entertainment, but hell, Fertitta could implement some types of performances/animal shows as part of the expansion to retain his entertainment desires, while still incorporating an aquatic awareness program or something educational.

Edited by cloud713
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  • 1 month later...

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2015/11/exclusive-downtown-aquarium-to-expand.html

 

The Downtown Aquarium is set to expand by the end of 2017.

 

Houston-based Landry's Inc. previously redeveloped Fire Station No. 1 and the Central Waterworks Building into a six-acre restaurant and aquarium with rides and amusements. Now, the company told HBJ its expanding to an adjacent half-acre lot across Preston Street.

 

Cantwell said Landry's is currently in talks to shut down the portion of Preston Street near the project for part of the day. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County runs its Metro buses heavily through Preston in the morning, Cantwell said, and so the company is in talks with the city to shut the street to the public after the morning rush and before the Downtown Aquarium opens.

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