Surf City could soon have a new tourist attraction along the waterfront. Bids should go out this spring on construction of a $17 million visitors' center project for the offshore Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
The two-story, 11,000-square-foot structure will be built on a site once known as the "fun sport" across Beach Street from the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. The nearly 1-acre site that now houses a temporary city parking lot once sported a BMX bike course, which has been moved to nearby Depot Park.
City officials plan to start construction on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center sometime this summer, according to Bonnie Lipscomb, executive director of the city's economic development and redevelopment department.
"We're changing the overall feel of this area," Lipscomb said of the project's impact on the city's waterfront. The project will include a major upgrade in directional signs on the city's waterfront, as well as streetscape and lighting improvements.
According to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which will manage the city-owned structure when completed by September 2011, about 250,000 people are expected to visit the Exploration Center annually. With oceanic education its main priority, it will feature a classroom, small theater and a variety of interactive exhibits of the Monterey Bay's ecosystems.
More besides the Boardwalk
Lipscomb said the project has long been on the radar of city officials, with discussions dating back to 2001. The Santa Cruz site was selected seven years ago, winning out over 22 other locations along California's Central Coast.
NOAA's Lisa Uttal, the center's project coordinator, said sufficient federal funds have been secured to build the Exploration Center, which will be constructed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver and possibly Gold status. The city donated the land, worth $2 million, and a capital campaign has made it to the halfway point to raise $3 million for exhibits.
"The center will connect people to their sanctuary," Uttal said. "It's a portal into the incredible underwater world out there. This is the equivalent of having a national rain forest in the ocean, since it's a multiple-use area. People can fish, kayak and dive in the sanctuary. But it's also an area of significant cultural and environmental value."
Once finished, the visitors' center should pay dividends to the city's economic development. The center will be a significant attraction to Surf City's waterfront, said Maggie Ivy, CEO and executive vice president of the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council.
"It creates another great opportunity for us to promote our location on the Monterey Bay sanctuary and enhances our gateway to the beach area," Ivy said. "We are always enthusiastic about any attraction that doesn't just depend on summer tourism."
Of the 3 million tourists who flock to Santa Cruz County each year, the majority of visits occur between May and August during the prime season for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and other nearby beaches. Santa Cruz's revitalized downtown, nearby state parks and quaint Capitola Village are among the county's other major tourist attractions.
Ivy said tourism is responsible for up to $600 million in consumer spending annually in the county. Lipscomb said the industry provides about $14 million for use by local governments every year.
But, like the new marine sanctuary visitors' center, local officials are always looking to expand their region's appeal to tourists. Ivy said an increasingly popular attraction in town is the Swift Street Courtyard on the west side of Santa Cruz. It's an assemblage of eight wineries- including Bonny Doon, Sones Cellars, Pelican Ranch and Santa Cruz Mountain wineries- along with several restaurants, a bakery, brew pub and a location of New Leaf Community Market.
Sanctuary interest stretches far
Founded in 1990, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is one of the 13 federally protected marine areas nationwide. It extends from Marin County on the north to Cambria in San Luis Obispo County on the south, encompassing 276 miles of shoreline and 6,094 square miles of ocean. It supports what is considered one of the world's most diverse marine ecosystems, home to a wide variety of fish, mammals, seabirds, invertebrates and plants.
NOAA operates several marine sanctuary visitors' centers around the nation- including in Hawaii, Florida, Michigan and Massachusetts. There are four in California, including the Golf of Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center in San Francisco.
Written by David Goll; published 3/26/10 in "Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal" http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/03/29/story2.html
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