Thursday, February 24, 2005

David Coates / The Detroit News Ron Zampich of St. Clair Shores, with daughter Rhiannon Zampich, 4, hopes the Belle Isle Aquarium can be saved.

Aquarium may earn reprieve

Council will ask the mayor to put off closure; backers are asked to raise $500K.

By Judy Lin / The Detroit News

What's next • Members of the Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium will meet with zoo director Ron Kagan today. The group also has requested a meeting with the mayor. • To make a pledge, visit www.belleisleaquarium.com or send a check to the friends at PO Box 20564, Ferndale, MI 48220 Save the aquarium? Do you feel saving Detroit's 101-year-old Belle Isle Aquarium, the oldest in the nation, is worth the effort and expense? Yes No Get results and comments Error processing SSI file Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

DETROIT -- The Belle Isle Aquarium may get a two-month reprieve from closure, long enough to give aquarium supporters a chance to raise the $500,000 that could keep it open at least another year.

That would give visitors like Gayle Bortz, who teaches her two children at home, more chances to see endangered species such as the razorback sucker and roundtail chub.

"We don't want to miss history," said Bortz, 44, of Canton, who visited for the first time Wednesday. "We want it to stay open."

The Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium accepted a challenge Wednesday to raise the cash. In return, the Detroit City Council agreed to urge Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to delay the March closure. It's not clear if the mayor will agree.

Since Detroit announced last month that the aquarium will close, the 101-year-old facility on the city's island park has seen a surge in attendance .

Deputy Mayor Anthony Adams said the facility will close in March unless the group also raises enough to pay for long-term repairs.

"Our plans haven't changed," he said. "Anything short of raising the capital plus operating dollars simply falls short."

"As soon as it is set up, I will be contributing," said Ron Zampich, 49, who has brought his 4 1/2 -year-old daughter Rhiannon from St. Clair Shores seven times in the past year. "Even if they get a new aquarium, we'll never get this back."

Detroiter Justin Reid, 23, brought his girlfriend, Aiesha Mackerway, 21, to the aquarium to show her creatures he visited as a child with his elementary school and his family.

"I wanted to bring her down so she can see some of what I saw," Reid said. "You can't get rid of it. There's too much history, too much learning."

The mayor says the city, which faces a $231 million shortfall in the next fiscal year, can't provide the same level of service to about 900,000 residents while costs rise and tax revenues fall.

While the mayor has pledged to maintain core services such as police and fire, administration officials say the city needs individuals and groups to supplement operating gaps at cultural gems like the aquarium. Revenue is down at the aquarium and attendance fell from 86,000 in 2000 to 56,000 in 2004.

But since the closing was announced, attendance at the aquarium has been up 70 percent in the first two weeks of February compared with the same time last year, according to curator Doug Sweet.

"I'm hopeful we can find some mechanism to keep the aquarium going," Sweet said. "The city is definitely going through hard times, and there's bound to be cuts."

During Wednesday's City Council meeting, some members issued a sobering reminder that as much as the city would hate to lose the aquarium, there simply isn't enough time or money to save it. Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel said it costs $70,000 a month to keep it running. The facility has eight employees.

"Everything slated for closing is going to have an advocacy group opposing it," said Councilwoman JoAnn Watson. She introduced a resolution to give the aquarium a one-year reprieve but later shortened the time to two months.

Friends of the Belle Isle Aquarium have set up a Web site, www.belleisleaquarium.com, where people can pledge money. Attorney David Draper said he will help the group with paperwork to establish an official nonprofit organization to accept donations.

You can reach Judy Lin at (313) 222-2072 or jlin@detnews.com.