Volume 3, No. 4. February 28, 2003
New
Arrivals
It’s
an aquarium!
Landry’s Restaurants Inc. announces the arrival of the Downtown Aquarium
in Houston, Texas, February 17, 2003. Measurements: 6 1/2 acres (2 1/2 hectares);
a 30,000 square-foot (2,787-square-meter) aquarium with 40 tanks totaling 500,000
gallons (1.9 million liters) in seven themed areas; two restaurants, 400 seat
and 120 seats; one lounge; one 6,000-square-foot (557.5-square-meter) banquet
facility with a 600-person capacity; one set of dancing fountains, one observation
tower, one arcade with six midway games, one 100-foot-high (30.5-meter) Ferris
wheel, one carousel, and one train with a 10 minute ride passing through a 200,000-gallon
(760,000-liter) shark tank. Delivered by Broquard Art Studios, Chance Rides,
David L. Manwarren Corp., Interior Designs Unlimited, International Concept
Management, Kirksey KSA Architecture, Kudela and Weinheimer, and ThemeScapes.
The new aquarium was getting so much advance publicity, Landry’s officials
decided to open it to the public on Monday, February 17, two days after the
gala preview. A Monday opening, they assumed, would allow the staff to ease
into the operations, providing a veritable soft-opening week before a weekend
slam. “Then we found out Monday was President’s Day Holiday and we
got overrun anyway,” said Jens Baake, the Downtown Aquarium’s property
manager. “But since everything was in place, all we had to do was manage
the crowds, and we did that very, very well.”
In part because while queues to enter the public aquarium and restaurants reached
three hours during the day—and the line for the train ride was even longer—people
seemed more than willing to wait. “They were surprisingly patient, I must
say,” Baake said. “One of the reasons was that they were so excited.”
They aren’t the only ones excited to see the world’s newest aquarium
open. This bold, $38 million private venture incorporating an aquarium into
a single-entity entertainment venue has an entire industry watching. Though
the Houston project is officially a super-sized version of the company’s
Aquarium Restaurant on the Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah, Texas, it sets many new
precedents of its own.
What the Kemah restaurant does not have is a public aquarium attached to it;
and this is no small, token fish-tank but a complex of seven highly-themed galleries.
What no other public aquarium has is an accompanying hard ride park, with custom-themed
Ferris wheel, carousel and midway. The shark tank, featuring a young 8-foot
sawfish along with sand tiger, zebra, coral, nurse and pajama sharks plus various
rays, is the first aquarium facility to incorporate a hard ride into its exhibits.
The C.P. Huntington train is custom built with a acrylic ceiling to allow unlimited
viewing as it traverses through the heart of the shark tank. Just one week into
its operation Landry officials already are considering adding a second train
to meet demand.
Located in the theater district—the complex in part is a transformation
of the city’s Fire Station Number 1 and the Central Water Works Plant along
Buffalo Bayou—the Downtown Aquarium gives Houston a must-do venue on the
nation’s cultural map. As such, and as the new showcase for the Houston-based
Landry’s Restaurants, its opening required a gala of Academy Award proportions.
Among the 1,500 invited guests in attendance were models Rachel Hunter and Fredrique
van der Wal, Joe Millionaire host Alex McLeod, musician Clint Black and
actress Lisa Hartman Black, and the late Jacques Cousteau’s grandson, Fabien
Cousteau. “He was important to us because he represented that we go beyond
just entertainment, that we have an education and environmental message,”
Baake said. As an example of that, the aquarium will open to school groups every
day before the facility opens to the public.
For the event titled “Black Tie with a Twist of Blue,” in keeping
with the blue-glow of the aquarium itself, limousine-delivered dignitaries and
celebrities traipsed down a blue carpet through a phalanx of media and “screaming
fans” brought in for the purpose, Baake said. Scuba-suited and mermaid-costumed
models offered gifts of glowing beaded necklaces and a blue drink, the contents
of which Baake never learned. “It was so secret they never told us what
it was.” Inside, chefs representing all 20 of Landry’s restaurant
concepts had set up buffet stations featuring their specialties, including a
new concept called Vic & Anthony’s to be introduced this spring. The
aquarium staff’s contribution was a banquet table and accompanying cocktail
tables made of acrylic filled with swimming fish.
“We had two purposes; one to give exposure to Landry’s products, and
also to manage such a large VIP party,” Baake said. “There’s
nothing more boring than looking at the same table all the time.” As stunning
as the buffet stations may have been, the evening’s highlight was the fireworks
shot from the aquarium’s roof, the first such display in downtown Houston
in several years.
That moment passed, the Downtown Aquarium and all its trappings remain, continuing
to impress its visitors. “We hope we have a long honeymoon because of what
we created,” Baake said.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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