Bass Pro Shops and its owner, Johnny Morris, have pledged an additional $12 million to pay for the expansion and renovation of Wonders of Wildlife National Fish and Wildlife Museum and Aquarium. That project started last fall and the target is now for the museum to reopen in summer 2009, later then previously announced spring 2009.
In a news release, WOW”s board chairman, Max Peterson, said the $12 million pledge would be paid over five years. Peterson said its in addition to “cash and assets previously contributed by Morris.”
The cost of the expansion and renovation is estimated at $25 million. Peterson says the museum now has “adequate funds” for the project.
Interim director Peggy Smith says WOW will have a theme centered on “The Great Outdoors,” with a focus on hunting, fishing and conservation/history. It will have “several interactive displays to heighten the visitors experience. Some of the displays and features include a flooded rainforest exhibit, a shark touch tank, a large living coral tank, a butterfly aviary and a nocturnal swamp just to name a few. The museum will dramatically increase from 126,129 square feet to more than 200,000 square feet,” according to the news release.
WOW is next to Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Store on Sunshine Street at Campbell Avenue. Part of the expansion will connect WOW with the store. Morris had the vision for WOW and worked to get private and public funds for it to be built under the auspices of a board of directors that is independent of his company.
Since it opened in November 2001, WOW has attracted only about half the number of visitors that its business plan envisioned. Morris and others had to contribute more money in the ensuing years to pay off the museums construction debt and operating losses.
“Reinvesting in the future of fish and wildlife conservation and the proud traditions of hunting and fishing is one of the very most important obligations and opportunities we have,” Morris said in the news release.
