Bloglanta

I’m not one to gravitate toward new, hyped-up venues, especially when they first open. So when I post this link, take it with a grain of salt: I have not yet been to the Georgia Aquarium.

Apparently, one Flickr user decided it would be a good idea to make his way to the Aquarium less than two hours before closing time without having purchased a ticket through the website beforehand. Would the folks at the Aquarium let him in? If it were me, I would not have expected to be able to make it through the doors.

But enough about me. Here is his side of the story:

4:50 - The Ga Aquarium manager turned away around 30 willing paying customers

Is this a normal opening week pain, or is there something more happening? What could be the Aquarium’s response to this complaint? And why in the world would the Aquarium close at 6:00, anyway — as though there are no locals who might want to check the place out after work?

If there is one city that looks to take away Atlanta’s title as ‘Capitol of the New South’ it’s Charlotte, North Carolina.   Their airport isn’t as good, they don’t have a zoo, but what they do have is extensive public funding for arts, cultural activities, and the sciences.  In fact, the Arts and Science Council for Charlotte is the second largest in the nation and has a budget of  $16.5 million.  The city has 651,000 which means they spend roughly $25 per citizen on arts and culture. 
By Comparison, the city of Atlanta is small at roughly 500,000, though the Metropolitan Statistical Area is 2.5 times as large as Charlotte’s 2 million.  The Metro Atlanta Arts Fund, however, is less than $2 million.
People, corporations, and governments need to step up and look at funding the strongest, most important institutions in the region AS a region! 
Take 4 of the City’s largest Cultural Institutions.
DESTINATION Amount  from Arts and Science Council   # of Visitors
Fernbank Museum .01% 500,000
Atlanta Botanical Gardens  0 425,000
Zoo Atlanta  0% 700,000
Georgia Aquarium   .3 2,000,000
The aquarium gets the most council moneys at .3% of it’s budget!   Compare that to Charlotte:
DESTINATION  Amount from Arts and Science Council   # of Visitors
Discovery Place ; $1.238 Million; 588,000
Carolina Raptor Center  $132,000 172,000
As you can see, in Charlotte, each institution receives between $.75 and $2  for each visitor.  In Atlanta, it’s not even close. 
What’s the main culprit here?  The Balkinization of Atlanta.  Rather than taking a regional approach to cultural development and funding the way Charlotte does, each county and city believes that every dollar raised in a given county should stay there.  However, at Fernbank, less than half of all visitors come from Dekalb County!   Yet they receive no Gwinnett money, no Fulton money, and no Rockdale County Money.  So too with the Zoo!  Cobb and Gwinnett county kids visit like crazy, but the county pays nothing to fund the zoo. 
A regional approach is needed as well as a regional funding mechanism.  In Salt Lake City, the Zoo, Arts, and Parks tax provides $15 million in Regional funding.  70% of voters, recently elected to renew the tax which supports the regions theaters, parks, and zoo.  The same thing needs to happen here.  A .1% tax across the 5 country metro area would raise millions upon millions for support of green space, cultural institutions, and the arts.  Businesses could match the dollars and it could go into one pot which could be administered by businsess, government, and cultural leaders.  The result would be a stronger cultural community in which cross county cooperation and outreach would be encouraged.  That would make Atlanta a stronger city for our citizens and keep us in the leadership if the New South!