The Aquarium is a private, 501(c) (3) not-for-profit educational organization and is governed by a 45-person board. Since opening in May 2000, the Aquarium has attracted over 2 million people and has become the third most visited attraction in South Carolina. The Aquarium routinely receives high marks in independent visitor satisfaction surveys and is accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, putting it in the top 10 percent of zoos and aquariums in North America.

Our annual attendance is around 500,000 people, and approximately 40 percent of the Aquarium's guests come from the Lowcountry. Also indicative of the tremendous support the Aquarium enjoys from the local community is the fact that it has one of the largest volunteer programs of its kind in the state, and one of the largest member programs in the Lowcountry (with about 10,000 member households and about 25,000 members).

But the real impact, the long-lasting impact, for the residents of Charleston in particular and South Carolina in general, is the tremendous effect that the Aquarium is having on education in South Carolina and our children. The Aquarium's award-winning, standards-based school program is provided without charge to students of South Carolina schools selected for our structured school program.

Nearly 40,000 students have experienced the program, and more than 1,100 teachers have been trained on the program and its curriculum. The Aquarium is now recognized as an extension of the classroom and provides hands-on science education to students across the state at no charge. The Aquarium also provides "access opportunities for all," and over 40 percent of the people visiting the Aquarium receive some form of discount. Linked to these educational efforts are the Aquarium's developing range of conservation programs, as demonstrated by our successful Sustainable Seafood Education program and the sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation program.

There have been numerous press accounts about the Aquarium and its financial status, and I am impelled to clarify misconceptions. The Aquarium cost $69 million to build, which is in line with other similar facilities in the United States. The funds to build the Aquarium came from a variety of sources, including the city of Charleston, Charleston County, the state of South Carolina and the federal government (totaling $47 million). The remainder of the funds to build the Aquarium came from a very successful $22 million private fund-raising campaign led by the Aquarium's board of directors.

The Aquarium opened with a relatively small loan from a consortium of three major banks in South Carolina. This loan was $11.75 million, and has been paid down by over 25 percent since opening. The loan is one-tenth the size of loans carried by some other recently opened aquariums. The remainder of the loan will be paid under the terms of our loan agreements, and the board of directors has no intention of asking city of Charleston taxpayers to become responsible for any part of the loan.

The Aquarium does not receive any significant public funding for operations and has no intention of asking for general fund revenue (property taxes) from the city. The Aquarium has received a grant of $75,000 from the state to support the structured school program (described above) and has received small matching grants from the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism to better promote the Aquarium outside South Carolina.

In 2003, the city of Charleston provided the Aquarium $70,000 from the accommodations tax paid by tourists and others who stay in our city hotels. This is somewhat less than other local attractions receive but is greatly appreciated. These funds have been effectively used to better promote the Aquarium, locally and regionally, thereby helping to support tourism.

Indeed, since opening, the Aquarium has contributed in a very major way to the local economy. Each year about a million people visit the many offerings of Aquarium Wharf, which includes the Fort Sumter Interpretive Center, the Imax Theater, restaurants, shops and other related facilities. Aquarium operations alone contribute more than $23 million in taxes and related revenues to the local economy. An independent study to determine the complete extent of the Aquarium's economic impact is currently under way.

In three short years, the Aquarium has become a tremendous local and regional resource, and one that my fellow board directors and I are proud to be associated with. We are teaching our visitors to see connections in the world of nature. They marvel at the diversity of such a small state. They leave us with a bone-deep commitment to better care for our waters and our land. I am a public finance lawyer by profession; it often occurs to me that our natural resources are like stocks in a portfolio and we are living off the dividends. What we are doing here is worthy of our best efforts and your continuing support.

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