Napier’s National Aquarium costs ratepayers over $2m each year - so council wants to build a new $28m facility to make it viable again

The National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier. Photo / Gary Hamilton-Irvine

The National Aquarium is leaking more than $2 million of Napier ratepayer money every year.

Now, the council wants to knock it down and build a smaller facility — which it says could make it viable in the long run.

Napier City Council’s preferred annual plan option will cost an estimated $28 million, it says, but there are already question marks being raised by a former councillor over that figure, given a business case has yet to be done.

The council is asking the public to provide feedback during April on the option of rebuilding smaller, or one of three alternate options to address the aquarium’s financial woes.

The other options include:

— the status quo

— redeveloping part of the existing aquarium and knock down the remainder at a cost of about $35m.

— council exit via getting a third party to run the aquarium or closure.

While no detailed cost modelling has yet been done, the council believes a smaller $28m facility would be cheaper to operate and could run on a yearly “$2m operational grant“.

By comparison, for the six months to December 31, the aquarium’s operational costs were $2.8m — more than half of which had to be funded by rates ($1.55m), with the remainder covered by entry fees and charges.

During the 2023/24 year, the operating cost for the aquarium was $4.5m, of which $2.4m was funded by rates.

That is despite budgets aiming for just 30% to 35% rate support.

The Marine Parade aquarium was opened at its current location in 1976 and underwent an $8 million upgrade in 2002, when it was officially given the name National Aquarium of New Zealand.

The outcome of April’s public consultation (part of the council’s wider 2025/26 draft annual plan process) will help the council decide whether or not to go ahead with a business case for its preferred option.

“At the annual plan hearings in late May, council will consider the feedback and decide which option to proceed with,” a council spokeswoman said.

The National Aquarium of NZ last underwent a significant change in 2002 when it received a large upgrade. Photo / NZME

“If an option other than status quo is chosen, then the next step is development of a business case.”

That business case would provide more details and then go through another round of public consultation, likely in 2026, before a final decision could be made.

The council says it is too early to say what would happen to the animals housed at the aquarium in the existing facility, and how many would make it to the new facility if it were built.

Former Napier City Councillor John Harrison said, in his opinion, the $28m proposal was too light on details to be calling for public feedback in the annual plan.

“Officers have not provided a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis, which is absolutely extraordinary when this is the largest non-core project in this plan.”

He claimed the proposal could end up costing a lot more than $28m as “nothing gets done” for that amount in 2025, when it came to major projects.

While the aquarium does include a burden on ratepayers, council papers stated it had flow-on benefits for the city and Napier as a city “still ultimately needs to attract people to visit and live here”.

The aquarium attracted 126,698 visitors during 2022/23 and 132,917 visitors during 2023/24.

An ambitious proposal for a $77 million upgrade and expansion of the aquarium, labelled Project Shapeshifter, fell over in 2021.

That followed the aquarium farewelling its piranhas due to “tighter rules”, and Cheryl the alligator which had been on loan, returned to Auckland.

In 2023, the aquarium also released its last two sharks from captivity back into the ocean, following recurring injuries to those sharks as well as the death of three other sharks.

Those animals have not been replaced.

Also in 2023, Napier City Council began a business review of its 11 revenue-generating facilities.

That led to a “reimagine process” in 2024 for a handful of the facilities including the aquarium.

As part of that process, different options were developed.

The draft 2025/26 annual plan will also see the public place feedback in April on other facilities under review including Faraday Museum, Napier i-Site, and Par2 Mini Golf.

Aquarium options

Option 1: Status quo, operating costs of about $4.5m a year.

Option 2: Redevelop the site and retain some of the building at a cost of about $35m and reduce operating costs.

Option 3: Knock down existing aquarium and build a smaller facility at a cost of about $28m and reduce operating costs — council’s preferred option.

Option 4: Council exit via getting a third party to run the aquarium or closure.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.