Council not ready to kill Living Planet

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson may be ready to junk the proposed Living Planet Aquarium, but Salt Lake County Council members want the mayor — as well as their counterparts on the City Council — to think about things before killing the idea.

"I am open to the concept," said Councilman Russell Skousen, who with Councilman Michael Jensen and council administrator Darrin Casper traveled to Chattanooga, Tenn., last week to see a Living Planet Aquarium in operation. "I want to send a signal to Salt Lake City that the aquarium is not dead."

The group that went to Chattanooga came back impressed with the aquarium itself and the more than $1 billion in other developments that have built up around it, turning Chattanooga's moribund waterfront into a vibrant cultural experience.

"It hadn't dawned on me that it would be such an engine for economic development," Skousen said.

The County Council voted Tuesday to send a letter to the City Council urging it to give the aquarium proposal more time.

The City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency Board, is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to continue a free lease it has given Living Planet at 336 S. 500 West.

The aquarium did not reach a March fund-raising benchmark, a condition of the lease. By the end of March, the aquarium was supposed to have raised more than $2.5 million but only reached $1.8 million, including $320,000 in free rent at The Gateway for a 10,000 gallon shark tank and fish exhibit that has yet to open.

However, Living Plant President Brent Andersen disputed those figures, saying he believes the aquarium has raised about 85 percent of the $2.5 million figure. His deal with the RDA requires the aquarium to come within 90 percent of the semiannual milestones.

"We are making progress (in fund raising)," he said.

Members of Utah's congressional delegation — including Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, along with Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop, all R-Utah — are also looking at securing up to $4 million in federal funds for the project, Andersen said.

While County Council members are aware of the aquarium's fund-raising problems and agree they are a concern, they still entertain the idea of the aquarium in their long-range plans, perhaps even to the point of going forward with a $30 million bond election next November.

"If we are asked what we think long term, if we want an aquarium, I think the answer is yes," Councilman Jim Bradley said.