VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: As Harborview Aquarium nears August opening, residents continue to question its $103.8 million price tag
Will Dewire: Onondaga County opens its new Harborview Aquarium at the Inner Harbor this August. The project started with an $85 million dollar price tag, which has since ballooned to over 100 million dollars. As construction wraps up, a growing number of Syracuse residents are asking the same question. Is this really how the county should have spent $100 million dollars?
Stephen Fort: A hundred-million you said? A hundred-million on a fish tank when you’ve got struggling people out here trying to survive in Central New York.
Dewire: That frustration is not hard to find in Syracuse right now. The county calls the Aquarium an engine for tourism and downtown growth. But for a lot of people here, it’s becoming a symbol of the wrong priorities. Brandon Espe, who works with the city’s homeless, was angry enough to write a song about it.
Brandon Espe: And they are like, well, you don’t understand, this is a state pocket, this is a county pocket, and this is a city pocket, and this is the pocket that money comes out of to feed the homeless, and there’s no money in that pocket.
Dewire: And Espe says, you don’t need to look far to see the problem, just up from the Aquarium itself.
Espe: If you took a drone and lifted it up from the Rescue Mission and it looked over, you would see the Aquarium. It’s blocks away from it.
Dewire: The rescue mission sits about a mile from the aquarium, close enough, Espe says, to see one from the other. Still, not everyone here is ready to boycott the Aquarium.
Grace: I’ll probably visit at some point. I don’t see the point in not going, but it’s definitely a waste of resources.
Dewire: The backlash reaches the county legislature itself. Legislature Maurice Brown voted against the Aquarium and says he fears what it will stand for.
Maurice Brown: Look at this large, you know, building, this large infrastructure project that we put so much money into, and look how it’s serving the region. We don’t want that to be the case.
Dewire: County Executive Ryan McMahon, the Aquarium’s biggest champion, was not available for an on-camera interview.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Onondaga County’s long-delayed aquarium is set to open at the Inner Harbor in August, but as construction nears the finish line, a growing number of Syracuse residents are questioning whether the project was worth its $103.8 million cost.
Despite the mostly negative community commentary, there is a base of supporters who believe that a large-scale, community-focused infrastructure project is exactly what the county needs. With the arrival of Micron and an expected population influx, the lack of public, indoor attractions in Onondaga County is at least worth noting.
County Executive Ryan McMahon, the project’s leading champion, did not respond to a request for comment, but reaffirmed his belief in the project in an April press release.
“We are transforming a site that was once one of the most polluted in the country into a place dedicated to conservation, education, and community. It’s a story about resilience, about progress, and about the future we’re building here together. Outside of our political and media echo chambers, the excitement for this project is real, and it is growing,” County Executive Ryan McMahon said in a press release.
The county legislature narrowly approved the aquarium in 2022 at an estimated cost of $85 million. The price has since climbed to $108.3 million. County officials say the overrun is being covered by private donations and redirected funds rather than new taxes — though of the 42 donors who closed the gap, 41 have remained anonymous, according to county records.
Officials announced in April that the facility will be named the Harborview Aquarium.
For some residents, the dispute is less about how the aquarium is financed than why it was a priority at all.
Stephen Fort, who is homeless, questioned the spending in an interview downtown.
“One-hundred million, you said? One-hundred million on a fish tank when you’ve got struggling people trying to survive in Central New York,” Fort said.
Brandon Espe, who works with the city’s homeless, was frustrated enough to write a song criticizing the project. He argues the county found money for an attraction while services for vulnerable residents went without.
“We’re saying we don’t have money for it, but all of a sudden we have money for this,” Espe said. “And they say, you don’t understand – this is the state pocket, this is the county pocket, this is the city pocket. But here’s the pocket that’s for the homeless, and there’s no money in that pocket.”
Espe also points to the project’s location. The Rescue Mission, which shelters many of the city’s homeless residents, sits about a mile from the aquarium site.
“If you took a drone and lifted it up from the Rescue Mission and looked over, you would see the aquarium,” Espe said. “It’s blocks away from it.”
Not every resident opposes the aquarium outright. Grace, a barista in the city, said she expects to visit even as she questions the spending.
“The aquarium is going to be built, it’s going to happen. I’ll probably visit at some point. I don’t see the point in not going,” she said. “But it’s definitely a waste of resources.”
Despite their approval of the project, critics have also been present in the county legislature for years. Legislator Maurice Brown, who voted against the project in 2022, has warned it could become a lasting symbol of misplaced public spending. Brown was quoted last year, saying he fears the aquarium will become a visual representation of how the legislature failed its constituents.
In a phone interview, Brown said he worried about what the finished project would represent.
“Look at this large building, this large infrastructure project we put so much money into, and look how it’s serving the region,” Brown said. “We don’t want that.”
The Harborview Aquarium is expected to open in August, over budget, financed largely by anonymous donors, and over the objections of many residents who live nearby.