Mote aquarium construction offers window to the future

As a crowd gathered Tuesday at PopStroke to watch a crane place a 15-ton acrylic window into the Gulf of Mexico Gallery at the Mote Science Education Aquarium next door, Evan Barniskis was asked about the enormity of the moment.

Barniskis, a Mote vice president who will be the Mote SEA's director when it opens late in 2024, said he gets excited just about every day as the aquarium takes shape.

He was speaking at a press conference held by Mote on the roof of PopStroke, which offers a perfect view of the construction.

"For me, every step we take is a big deal," he said. "We are heading toward the finish line, and this is a dream come true. Not everyone gets to do something like this in their career path."

Pushed a bit on the topic, Barniskis did say the placing of the two huge acrylic windows was an especially exciting development.

"It's amazing," Barniskis said. "And we could feasibly put water in the tank right now."

While no water will be put into that two-story Gulf of Mexico Gallery tank until 2024, the completion of Tuesday's project was important to the exterior construction of the aquarium.

"Now that we are able to put these in, we will be able to move to the next level," Barniskis said. "Those were the two largest (pieces of acrylic for tanks). We will have outdoor exhibits (with large tanks), but those pieces can be brought in from the top."

Those attending the press conference were assured that if anything should happen to the Gulf of Mexico tank in, say, 100 years, they could bring four smaller pieces of acrylic in through the building and piece them together to form a replacement tank.

Willis Smith Construction and Whiting Turner, construction partners in the project, can now proceed with building the aquarium roof. And that means they can speed ahead on the exterior walls once the roof is complete.

"We will put up the steel to hold up the facade this October," Barniskis said. "This fall, a lot of exciting things are going to happen."

He said about six months after the exterior facade is built, the entire exterior of the aquarium will be finished. That means by next summer, those driving past Mote SEA will see basically a finished product, even though much interior construction still will need to be finished.

Approximately 120 workers were on site Tuesday and that number will jump to 200 to 250 workers once the interior construction ramps up. Barniskis said the entire $132 million project is on track for its winter 2024 completion schedule.

Mote, Willis Smith and Whiting Turner executives attended the press conference, which only featured the 17-foot-by-22-foot Gulf of Mexico viewing window being placed. The other 15-ton acrylic window will form the bottom of the tank and a tunnel where visitors will walk through it and look up into the exhibit. That was placed Tuesday afternoon.

Willis Smith President John LaCivita said Tuesday offered a special milestone in the construction of the aquarium, and he brought his daughter, Lucy, along to enjoy the event. 

"I am always excited about stuff like this," LaCivita said. "This is a one-of-a-kind experience and that is why I brought Lucy. And I love we can share this with the public."

LaCivita said that construction has gone "extremely smoothly" to this point and he added that Whiting Turner has been a great partner.

"We work so well together," he said.