THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 7, 1996 TAG: 9608070471
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 48 lines
The Virginia Marine Science Museum's sharks, sea turtles and river otters are drawing record crowds to their newly expanded home.
The museum announced Tuesday that attendance in July increased by 246 percent over July 1995, an indication that its $35 million expansion is paying off handsomely.
Attendance for the month was 127,000, compared with 51,500 last year.
When the expanded museum opened on June 15, officials were hoping to draw about 3,500 visitors a day. But their calculations were wrong.
The actual number is more than 4,000, the museum said.
Recently, even on weekdays, the museum's Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion and its Atlantic Ocean Pavilion have been mobbed with visitors, straining staff resources and parking facilities.
``We're ecstatic about the response we've gotten,'' museum spokeswoman Alice Scanlan said.
``We knew there would be an increased attendance, we knew we were going to be a big attraction, but I don't know if we really anticipated these numbers.''
Showings of the film ``Into the Deep,'' presented on the seven-story 3-D IMAX theater, one of only five in the nation, have been sold out, Scanlan said.
One recent rainy Thursday, when 6,144 visitors showed up, Scanlan said she was out in the rain directing traffic into the parking lot from General Booth Boulevard. Exhibits technicians and even C. Mac Rawls, the museum's director, have pitched in to help with crowds.
``The most common comment from visitors is they had no idea it was going to be so great,'' Scanlan said.
Among the most popular exhibits has been the Norfolk Canyon aquarium, with its recently introduced sand tiger and brown sharks. The 300,000-gallon tank is designed to resemble a 1.5-mile-deep fissure off the Virginia Beach coast.
Crowds are also flocking to the river otter habitat at the Owls Creek Marsh Pavilion, just south of the museum's main building. The five resident otters, when not snoozing beside the tank, delight visitors with their swimming and playing.
Said Rawls: ``We aspire to offer something educational in a highly exciting way, which I think adds important value to a family experience.''
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA MARINE SCIENCE MUSEUM EXPANSION ATTENDANCE by CNB