It was a banner month for “Pod 14” of Judith Bacal, Jamie Dickinson and Erica Skirvin, who after promising the Maritime Aquarium they could raise $10,000 by kayaking across Long Island Sound, more than delivered by producing a check for a third more than that amount.
It helps, but the fiscal fate of Norwalk”™s Maritime Aquarium was still fogbound as of early August, as Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the Connecticut General Assembly attempted to craft a compromise on spending and taxes that would allow the state to proceed under a new, two-year budget.
In late May, Rell submitted a budget that would have wiped out state funding to support the aquarium.
The cuts come even as the governor has touted the state”™s “Staycation” program in an effort to promote local attractions like the aquarium.
In a June letter to members and supporters, CEO Jennifer Herring stated the aquarium needed $675,000 in state funding to make up shortfalls. More than two-decades after it opened, the aquarium has yet to wean itself off state support, despite the addition of several attractions in recent years like an IMAX theater, and the closure of money-losing ventures like a boat-building shop.
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“In these difficult economic times, hard choices must be made, but does it make sense to make budget cuts that will cost our state revenue and jobs?” Herring said. “It would be disastrous for the aquarium. We already laid off 15 percent of our staff. Next, we start closing down programs or exhibits. Losing all state support now seriously compromises our long-term viability.”
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Not that the aquarium has battened down the hatches completely. Last month, Wallingford-based Aeon Inc. installed two high-definition LCD screens at the aquarium entrance to provide information to visitors as they wait in line.
Pod 14 did its part, paddling in the annual charity event Kayak for a Cause to raise money for the Maritime Aquarium.  And despite an economy awash in red ink, the aquarium raised just above $400,000 in April at its annual Red Apple fundraiser, sponsored by Fairfield County Bank Corp., GE Capital, and Xerox Corp. among others. Still, that was down from a record of nearly $600,000 at the previous year”™s Red Apple dinner.
With revenue declines in line with other Fairfield County area nonprofits, the aquarium is looking for alternate sources of revenue in every corner, from kayakers like Pod 14 to new exhibits such as the “Penguins on the Loose” exhibit it has run this summer featuring African penguins.
As of July, Maritime Aquarium was looking to hire an individual to manage its membership rolls and gifts from individuals, as well as a person to work for the director of development on a larger capital campaign.
In October 2007, the aquarium announced plans for a $20 million overhaul of its exhibit space ”“ when complete, the aquarium estimates it would increase its contributions to the Norwalk and Fairfield County economies from $42 million on average to $53 million.
Travelers to Connecticut spend some $9 billion each year, as estimated by the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.
One source of support the aquarium learned early this year it could not turn to was the federal government, after Congress barred museums, casinos, zoos and aquariums from receiving funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
