Push for RI aquarium still alive

WEST GREENWICH, R.I. (WPRI) - A former gubernatorial candidate who sought to build an aquarium in Rhode Island is moving forward with his plan.

Victor Moffitt, a former Republican state representative from Coventry, is now the chairman of the Oceans Aquarium Research & Science Center.

Moffitt says he is trying to secure a ten-year lease on the former GTech property in West Greenwich.  He hopes to convert the 93,000 square-foot building into the first phase of the project : a research and science center with small aquariums that could open as early as this fall.

"We're currently looking at Phase One of our project which is top open a very unique research and science center with some smaller aquariums, a children's museum, an aquatic hospital with hatchery," Moffitt tells Eyewitness News.

Moffitt says Phase One will cost about five million dollars.  Phase Two, which would include large-scale attractions such as beluga whales and penguins, as well as cafes, a skywalk, and a large scallop roof, will likely cost upwards of fifty million dollars.

"We'd definitely be one of he largest ocean aquariums in the country," says Moffitt.

Moffitt he hopes to have the GTech lease signed in the next two weeks.

The aquarium has already acquired a coral exhibit with more than one hundred different species of coral.

The Oceans Aquarium is hosting its first Polar Bear Plunge fundraiser on February 25th at Bristol Town Beach.  WPRI 12, Fox Providence, and The Rhode Show are media sponsors of the event.

Click here for details on the Polar Plunge