New £10m aquarium building proposed for Belfast's Titanic Quarter

A new £10m aquarium attraction has been proposed to be built in Belfast's Titanic Quarter near the Titanic Belfast and Titanic Hotel buildings.

Belfast is a popular destination among tourists, with the Titanic Belfast centre alone drawing in hundreds of thousands of people each year. ReefLIVE Ltd has now announced plans to build a new £10m aquarium attraction on Queen's Road near Titanic Belfast and the Titanic Hotel. Planning permission for the building is expected to be lodged in October following a consultation next month.

ReefLIVE is a new company set up last year by a group of people with experience from similar projects throughout the UK and Europe, but this building would be the new company's first project. The firm expects the attraction to draw in 300,000 visitors annually, and if all goes well the building should open its doors in 2021.

A ReefLIVE representative said: "Belfast has become one of the UK's leading hubs for such family friendly experiences and we see the city as a thriving tourism destination. We are confident in our decision to choose Belfast over other top UK cities for our first investment of this kind."

The aquarium has been reportedly designed in response to growing public interest in marine conservation following recent documentaries such as Blue Planet 2, and the facility will have strong links with educational institutions.

Source: BBC News, Belfast Live