Photo: sakchai vongsasiripat / Moment / Getty Images
The new $100 million aquarium under construction in Syracuse's Inner Harbor is on track for an August opening, and Onondaga County officials are turning to local schoolchildren to help name the facility.
County Executive Ryan McMahon announced Wednesday that students throughout Onondaga County are invited to submit creative name suggestions for the aquarium. Schools will collect student ideas until March 20, after which a review team of marketers and other officials will select the winning name, according to Syracuse.com.
The county is simultaneously seeking a corporate sponsor for naming rights, similar to the arrangement at the county's amphitheater, which is officially named the Amphitheater at Lakeview but carries the sponsor name Empower Federal Credit Union.
Some East Syracuse-Minoa students have already proposed creative names like "The Bikini Splash Zone," "Swamp Bottom," and "Deep In The Ocean Where You Have Fun!"
The $100 million facility, which began construction in October 2024, will feature more than 250 species of aquatic animals. McMahon revealed that garden eels, red lionfish, red-bellied piranhas, sea dragons, and sea nettle jellyfish will be among the creatures calling the new aquarium home.
While construction remains on schedule for an August opening, McMahon noted there are some supply chain issues involving large tanks being imported from Italy. "These tanks are coming over from Italy. And so some of the tanks have come. The largest tanks from Italy have gotten to the port. Then from the port it needs to get released. So it's kind of a moving target," he said.
The aquarium is expected to create between 50 and 100 jobs and has already spent about $71 million of its $100 million budget. Most of the funding comes from county resources, but the nonprofit Friends of the Onondaga County Aquarium has contributed $5.9 million in donations, according to LocalSYR.
Looking ahead, McMahon envisions the aquarium becoming "a pillar of educational infrastructure, a catalyst for redevelopment, and an area where people want to work" within five years.