Napier City Council considers $77 million redevelopment or closure for National Aquarium

Napier City Council has unveiled ambitious plans for the development of a new National Aquarium and Oceans Centre on its foreshore, presenting a business case for a new attraction that would replace the present aquarium, much of which needs to be demolished.

The Council this week submitted its detailed business case to New Zealand’s Ministry of Business of Business Innovation and Employment, aiming to secure between $15 million and $35 million from the Government and its Provincial Growth Fund.

However, with rising costs for the redevelopment, the Council faces having to close the attraction as early as the end of 2022 if funding for the project cannot be secured.

Commenting on the business case, Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise told Hawkes Bay Today “we now know that the aquarium has approximately three to five years' operating life left.”

However, the current projected cost of $77.5 million is 70% more than an August 2017 plan to redevelop the attraction of $45 million.

The Council reportedly expects the MBIE to make a decision by 2020, but the redevelopment, or consideration of any closure would still have to be put-out for "extensive community consultation".

The Council had budgeted a $10.2 million city contribution, proposing to obtain funds from other sources, including now seeking up to $25 million from government funding, and now a target of $40 million from other investment, which could include other councils, iwi sources and philanthropic trusts and benefactors.

The Council says the project Shapeshifter is "not just an expansion" of the current Marine Parade landmark, but a proposal to build a new, nationally significant National Aquarium and Oceans Centre.

It says the current facility, much of which dates back to its opening in 1976, including the original circular building, would have to be demolished, as it represents an outdated form of aquarium, in which exhibits of aquatic wildlife are set up for the public to view.

The buildings housing Napier's proposed new National Aquarium and Oceans Centre will be designed to resemble stingrays.

Visitors would follow the creation narrative of Ngati Kahungunu from the dark depths of the ocean, the domain of Tangaroa, toward the coast, the domain of Hinemoana, to the tidal zone and into the sky, the domain of Ranginui.

A key theme of the new project was to tell the nation's story through a combination of the Maori worldview and environmental science, but also other indigenous peoples of the Pacific.

Mayor Wise added “the project's vision is creating a place where land and sea are joined, where stories of the ocean are told by hapu, conservationists, scientists, volunteers and, most importantly, by the species that make the ocean their home.’

If funding can be secured, the facility would open in October 2025.

The business case says the facility would attract 196,000 visitors in 2026, increasing to 300,000 by 2041.

Images show the design of the new National Aquarium and Oceans Centre including its 'kelp forest' (below).