Shreveport Mayor Cedric B. Glover led a contingent of local representatives on a fact-finding tour last week to view two Southern cities with successful aquarium projects.

“I’ve heard many expressions of intent across our community for the creation of a zoo in Shreveport, as a way to stimulate visitation by families to our City. That seems to be a worthwhile idea, but it also seems that, due to the unique influence on our region by the Red River and the system of lakes and tributaries, that we could do something truly distinctive by celebrating the role of water in our history and culture,” said Mayor Glover. “Working with key agencies involved in tourism, economic development and education, we are seeking to find successful examples of such efforts in other communities that we might emulate.”

Mayor Glover and representatives of the Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourist Bureau, Sci-Port Discovery Center, Shreveport Downtown Development Authority and Shreveport Public Assembly & Recreation (SPAR) travelled to Chattanooga, TN to visit with key local officials there and inspect the highly successful Tennessee Aquarium. The Tennessee Aquarium is generally acknowledged to have been a major source of the recent resurgence and revitalization of downtown Chattanooga and is also noteworthy for being the largest aquarium in America devoted to the study of freshwater marine habitat, particularly the Tennessee River environment. Also included on the inspection tour was the newly-established Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta. In operation less than three years and possessing the world’s largest salt water aquarium tank, the Georgia Aquarium is already planning a major expansion program to capitalize on its initial success.

“Those communities were eager to share their experiences and make recommendations to us in Shreveport. We are a long way from embarking on an aquarium project and more study and feasibility work would have to occur before committing ourselves to a specific plan, but we are thrilled to make the connections in cities that have had successful projects such as these, to boost the attractiveness of their host communities,” adds Mayor Glover.

“We believe that our entire region would benefit from a high-quality, family-related asset such as an aquarium and we are pleased to confer with tourism professionals in those cities to learn from their experience,” said Stacy Brown, Executive Director of the Shreveport-Bossier Convention Tourist Bureau.

Don Shea, Executive Director of the Shreveport Downtown Development Authority, adds his support. “If we focus on the educational and unique regional attributes when expanding the aquarium idea, we can create a facility that the entire community can be proud of and patronize, just as we do at Sci-Port Discovery Center. As a community, we must increase access and use of our great resources such as Cross Bayou and the Red River. We share Mayor Glover’s vision, his excitement and we’re excited to work collaboratively to develop a plan.”