Aquarium pushes expansion
By Matthew Burrows
Publish Date: 6-Jul-2006

The Vancouver Aquarium may be planning to build a large sit-down restaurant in either the aquarium itself or in its adjoining public plaza.
At Monday’s (July 10) park-board meeting, commissioners will vote on a proposed technical review and public-consultation process that both the board and the aquarium have set in motion in response to that facility’s recent major expansion plans.
Stanley Park’s major tenant has courted controversy over its displays of aquatic mammals but celebrated its 50th anniversary on June 15. This came one month after aquarium president John Nightingale first floated expansion and “revitalization” plans publicly at a May 16 park-board planning-committee meeting. Among other things, the plans specified the creation of larger outdoor pools for beluga whales, stellar sea lions, and dolphins, as well as an upgraded public plaza and new public washrooms. The only mention of dining facilities was a new food concession to replace the old and tiny walk-up facility.
Two days after that meeting, Nightingale told the Georgia Straight: “The current aquarium footprint is 11,900 square metres. The proposed expansion is 3,420 square metres, which is a 28.7-percent increase.” He added that the “majority” of the expansion would take place in the plaza area.
Within the public-consultation process—which park-board staff recommend the board endorse on July 10 and which would be implemented by Kirk and Co. Consulting Ltd.—are about a dozen “consultation topics” regarding land use and design of the aquarium facilities and the plaza. One of the topics, “Food”, lists both “cafeteria-style” and “seated-style restaurant” for the aquarium itself; another, this time for the plaza, lists three options: cafeteria-style, seated-style restaurant, or “walk-up/take-out style”. Stickhandling public input in this frequently emotional aquarium debate is Judy Kirk, former executive director of the B.C. Liberal caucus, and her company. (Kirk was also a key adviser to former mayor Philip Owen in communicating the City of Vancouver’s four-pillars drug strategy.) Korina Houghton, NPA commissioner and park-board planning-committee chair, told the Straight in an interview that the “extensive consultation process” will be “interesting” and that terms drawn up by the consultants can still be altered by the board.
“We can always come back and revisit any of that,” Houghton said. “That was just the groundwork. They were laying out the proposals for the consultation at this time. Nothing is approved right at this time. We could very well add more to a particular area and less to another, or whatever.”
When asked if a restaurant would compete with park-board facilities, Houghton replied: “I’m quite sure this is going to be one of the negotiated aspects. Speaking from my feelings to date, I feel the parks board is going to want to negotiate with the Vancouver Aquarium with regard to whatever kind of lease or income revenue we would get from any kind of concession.”
COPE commissioner Loretta Woodcock told the Straight she is upset that ethics is being left off the table.
“The way the report came to us, at least in draft, it shows it’s all on land use and nothing to do with the ethics,” Woodcock said on June 30. “They did say they were going to have a public-attitude survey, and I had said: ‘I hope that’s going to contain issues like the [marine mammal] breeding aspect.’ I told them I was going to be their harshest critic, especially as we lost the referenda opportunity. We want to make sure the consultation makes the park board credible.” (On May 29, Non-Partisan Association commissioners voted 4–2 to rescind a 1995 motion requiring a referendum for expansion to go ahead.)
According to staff reports going to the board, the public will have access to Web sites, a newspaper insert, signage, one-on-one street interviews, regional sampling, and three open houses—one in the West End, one in East Vancouver, and one on the West Side.
The Straight left messages with Nightingale, who was away and unavailable for further comment during the Canada Day and July 4 holiday week. According to aquarium public- relations manager Brenda Jones: “We don’t want to pass comment on the public consultation, since it really is going to be before the Vancouver park board on July 10.”

Straight Issues
Straight Issues Archives
Should the Vancouver Aquarium pay more than $40,000 a year to the Vancouver park board for its lease?
Loretta Woodcock
Coalition of Progressive Electors park-board commissioner
“Absolutely, and I told them that….We’ve lost $400,000 out of our operating budget from the city for this year. From that $400,000, $113,000 is going to be taken out of services to the community centres.”
Allan De Genova
NPA park-board commissioner (suspended from caucus)
“I think it [$40,000] is grossly undermeasured for the facility that they have. It’s one of the many things that I will be looking at over the next number of months. I look at this in terms of what is right for the city.”
Annelise Sorg
Spokesperson, Coalition for No Whales in Captivity and long-time critic of the aquarium
“Of course. I worked out once that it [$40,000] is what you’d pay for a warehouse in Surrey. It’s outrageous; it’s a drop in the bucket for them.”
Laura McDiarmid
Former NPA park-board chair
“The parks need to negotiate lease agreements with its stakeholders that are fair and equitable across the board and provide a monetary reimbursement to be put back into the park for the enjoyment of all people.”
Vancouver Aquarium by the numbers
> Paid attendance at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre in 2005: approximately $750,000.
> Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre is both a charitable organization and a nonprofit association.
> Vancouver Aquarium Conservation Foundation is a registered public foundation.
> Total liabilities in 2004: $4,269,094.
> Total revenues in 2004: $24,053,684.
> Current cost of Vancouver Aquarium lease per year: $40,000.
> Number of employees earning $80,000-$119,999 in 2004: 4.
> Number of employees earning $119,999 and over in 2004: 1.
> Number of active volunteers: more than 300
> Total political activity expenditures in 2004: $59,524.
> Large provincial and federal government grants in recent years: $8.2 million from B.C.’s Ministry of Small Business and Economic Development Community Development Initiative; $100,000 in 2004/2005 from the B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General; $405,832 in 2003 from Western Economic Diversification Canada.
Sources: www.vancouver.ca/parks/; www.vanaqua.org/volunteer; Canada Revenue Agency Registered Charity Information Return 2004; provincial public accounts; www.gc.ca/