Gulfport Aquarium

It’s been nearly 10 years since Marine Life was destroyed in Gulfport by Hurricane Katrina. Today, the city announced that Mississippi lawmakers voted to secure twenty four and a half million dollars for the city to realize its dream of a world class aquarium.
"Our vision is to make this a Mississippi aquarium, not just for the gulf coast but for our entire region, and we thing we have a great plan to get a consultant who is affiliated with the Georgia aquarium," said Billy Hewes.
When the Georgia Aquarium was built in 2005, it was the largest aquarium in the world and has had over 10,000 visitors in four years. This is a type of success that Gulfport would love to recreate.
State Senator Sean Tindell helped secure the vote by showing that there is a lack of family friendly entertainment on the coast, but also pointed out the staggering economic impact will be felt by the entire state.
“The numbers are mind blowing”, said David Parker. “It’s going to be transformational for the city, we’re expecting an additional 500,000 visitors a year.”