Denver’s former Colorado Ocean Journey reopens today with a $15 million face-lift featuring an underwater-themed restaurant, bar and new interactive exhibits, including a gold- panning station.
Owner Landry’s Restaurants Inc., which bought the aquarium out of bankruptcy for $13.6 million, is banking on spiced-up exhibits and an emphasis on dining to revive the once-struggling property.
Landry’s has renamed it the Downtown Aquarium.
Nevertheless, the aquarium’s costly restaurant and bar still will have to overcome the challenge of a difficult location. The aquarium at 700 Water St. is sandwiched between Interstate 25 and the Children’s Museum, and it simply won’t draw walk-in traffic, one restaurant consultant says.
The aquarium’s restaurant also will be tasked to provide high-quality food, a shortcoming of themed restaurants in years past that tried to succeed on theme alone.
Landry’s chief executive, Tilman Fertitta, on Wednesday promised the food will be enough of a draw to bring people to the Central Platte Valley. Landry’s restaurants include themed destinations such as Joe’s Crab Shack, Rainforest Cafe and the Chart House.
“People will come to the restaurant because they want to go the aquarium, but the food is going to bring the customers back,” he said.
The Downtown Aquarium is the second such development for Houston-based Landry’s, which has operated a similar concept in its headquarters city since early 2003.
While some have questioned whether adding a restaurant would be enough to revive the failed cultural institution, Landry’s officials were quick to call attention to the improvements made to the exhibit space.
“We’ve almost tripled the number of species we have, and we’ve more than tripled the number of animals,” said Jim Prappas, director of biology for Landry’s.
As workers cleaned tanks and made last-minute lighting adjustments, Prappas walked through the exhibits and noted the new additions.
Among them:
Themed areas – including a sunken temple and shipwreck – line the exhibits and walkways leading through them.
An Animatronic orangutan and her baby greet visitors at the entrance to the rain forest- themed section.
An expanded sting-ray touch pool, where visitors can feed the rays. (The food costs extra.)
An area where kids can pan for gold. (That costs extra too).
Then there’s the food.
The 250-seat Aquarium Restaurant, built around a 200,000- gallon tank teeming with fish, sharks and other sea life will serve lunch and dinner.
There’s plenty of seafood on the menu, but Fertitta doesn’t expect customers to wince.
Outside the restaurant, the upscale Dive Lounge will serve drinks along with the full restaurant menu.
A separate ballroom space, which seats up to 250 people, also will be available for meetings and special events. The aquarium also features a snack stand for patrons who don’t want sit-down meals.
Whether Landry’s can wow customers with its food will be a key to the aquarium’s success, said Tom Miner, a principal at Technomic, a Chicago restaurant consulting firm.
Aquarium staff plan to keep guests coming back with regularly updated and changing exhibits, Prappas said.
The Denver aquarium employs 400 – a gain of 250 from the Ocean Journey days – with half the staff working the restaurant, bar and event space.
While he’s concerned about the location, Denver restaurant consultant John Imbergamo said, “The positive of this deal is that they’ve done this before,” noting the popularity of the Houston Downtown Aquarium.
“The question is whether the aquarium will help the restaurant, or whether the restaurant will help the aquarium,” Imbergamo said.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-820-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com.
1994: The city of Denver commits to a $200,000 aquarium loan for design, costs and down payment for land in the Central Platte Valley.
1996: The group planning the aquarium puts together the financial plan for the $93 million Ocean Journey project.
1999: The aquarium opens with thousands of fish fans in attendance.
2001: The aquarium cannot pay its $61.1 million debt to bondholders and the city. It also is refused taxpayer money earmarked for cultural and scientific institutions.
2002: Ocean Journey files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, holding off creditors and planning a reorganization.
2003: Landry’s Restaurants buys Ocean Journey for $13.6 million, outbidding Ripley Entertainment, which was offering $4.5 million.
2004: With Landry’s and the city of Denver at odds over tax assessments on the property, Landry’s chief executive, Tilman Fertitta, threatens to demolish the aquarium and sell the land beneath it. Both sides eventually resolve the dispute by agreeing on a value of $14.2 million.
Today: The aquarium reopens after renovations under the name Downtown Aquarium.
SOURCE: DENVER POST RESEARCH
