When the National Aquarium in Baltimore opened in 1981 as centerpiece of the Inner Harbor's revitalization, it was a bold and risky venture for a city fishing for tourists. The building with neon blue waves and rooftop pyramids made an instant splash - and triggered a wave of aquarium-building nationwide.
As Baltimore's aquarium prepares for the Friday opening of "Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes," a $74.6 million expansion, it's no longer the urban curiosity it was.
Seeking to emulate Baltimore's success, two dozen U.S. cities or states have opened aquariums since 1981, and still others are in the works. Just last month, Atlanta opened the $290 million Georgia Aquarium, which bills itself as the world's largest.
Despite this construction boom elsewhere, the Baltimore aquarium's executives say they believe their attraction will not only continue to stand out - but that attendance will climb from 2004's roughly 1.5 million visitors to 2 million annually by 2010.
As for competition, they express steely confidence, even in the face of the Georgia behemoth. It's not size alone that matters, they insist, but the quality of the collections and how they are displayed.
As long as Baltimore's aquarium can maintain the global sweep of its collection, its trademark immersive environments, attention to detail and exotic creatures, they say, it will succeed even as other aquariums appear on the scene.
"A zoo has a park or garden atmosphere. This is more of a museum experience, one with the great advantage of having live animals as the subject matter," said David Pittenger, executive director of the National Aquarium.
Given the proliferation of aquariums, "There has to be something that distinguishes you," Pittenger said. "We benefit from the fact that we display environments and creatures from all over the world. That's an advantage. People are looking for diversity. They're looking for a broad collection. And that's where we excel."
But the competition is not just other aquariums or zoos. It's also the Orioles and the Maryland Science Center and Harry Potter and Playstation.
"It's not aquarium to aquarium," said Jane Ballentine, a spokeswoman for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. "The Shedd Aquarium [in Chicago] and the National Aquarium are not competing for the same tourist base. On any given day, it's the movies and shopping and kids sitting at home in front of the television. It's all the other leisure activities."
