Work on $25 million Albany aquarium is stopped because of lack of money

<p>Construction of a $25 million aquarium that would be a centerpiece of an ambitious development project along the Flint River has stopped because of a lack of money.</p><p>Promoters of the Flint Riveraquarium, which is scheduled to open in September and feature fish and plants from the Flint River, said they had been counting on a $1.4 million appropriation from the state. Without those funds, the contractor ordered workers off the site this week.</p><p>State Sen. Michael Meyer von Bremen, D-Albany, spearheaded the effort to get the money into the budget as a Senate add-on, but Gov. Sonny Perdue put the project on a list of deferred spending items as the state struggled to balance its budget.</p><p>Perdue is scheduled to tour the project on Thursday, and von Bremen said he's optimistic the governor will release the money.</p><p>Thomas C. Chatmon Jr., president and CEO of Albany Tomorrow Inc., confirmed construction was halted pending the availability of more funds, but said the group is not broke.</p><p>About $1 million remains in general funds, but some of that money is allocated to other things, he said.</p><p>"If we had continued to work until the end of the project we would have found we didn't have the (money) that we needed," Chatmon said.</p><p>Loretta Lepore, Perdue's press secretary, said in addition to touring the Riverquarium, the governor will meet with those involved with the project.</p><p>"He'd like to talk to them about the funding request," Lepore said. "He wanted to have the answers to a few more questions."</p><p>Lepore said the governor is concerned with how the operational costs of the aquarium will be covered, why the additional money is needed and how day-to-day operations of the aquarium will be managed.</p><p>"There's no timeline on how fast a decision will be made after the visit," Lepore said. "This is just an information gathering meeting."</p><p>Chatmon said backers of the project have no backup plan and are "counting heavily on the governor releasing funds that are appropriated."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2866690)</p>

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