CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A local park will soon be swimming with life and educational content for all visitors to enjoy. Plans are in motion for the construction of a native aquarium for the exhibit area of the Wade Bourne Nature Center in Rotary Park, according to the Montgomery County Parks & Recreation Department.

The County Commission accepted a $50,000 grant Monday night from the Wade Bourne Nature Center Foundation for the purpose of building a native aquarium.

Burchett: ‘Exciting opportunity’

Clarksville Now spoke with Sally Burchett, director of Parks & Recreation, who said the department is working with an aquarium builder out of Nashville.

Burchett said the tank will hold about 450 gallons of water and be home to many local species of fish.

“This will have educational panels about all the different species that will be in the tank, and we are only filling it with native fish that you would find in the Cumberland (River) or in a local body of water here in the Clarksville area.”

In addition to the educational panels, plans are in place to install the tank in a central location where visitors can see the fish during and after hours.

“Our intention is to place it in a location in the center that will be visible from inside the nature center as well as from our deck, so that the fish will be visible to park patrons even when the nature center is closed.”

The Wade Bourne Nature Center opened in October 2020, and it promotes conservation and nature education for all ages while connecting visitors with the environment. Burchett said the aquarium project is an exciting opportunity.

“We just really thought it was an exciting opportunity to bring some life into the nature center in a way that we feel like we can actually sustain and be able to handle with our staffing, so we’re really, really excited about it.”

No tax dollars

At the commission meeting on Monday, one commissioner brought up the overall cost of the project and asked whether $50,000 would be enough.

“I just don’t see that being enough to build a native aquarium. I just don’t see it,” said Commissioner Walker Woodruff on Monday.

Burchett told Clarksville Now the project should be funded entirely by the grant.

“We are not expecting the project to cost more than the $50,000. The Wade Bourne Nature Center Foundation supported the project fully as it was originally quoted, so the donation is not to exceed $50,000. We are expecting that the project will fit within those parameters. We did not have any tax dollars earmarked for this, and we do not anticipate spending any tax dollars on this project.”

Burchett noted that outside of the zoo and aquarium in Chattanooga, there are not a lot of places featuring public aquariums in northern and middle Tennessee. This will be something to the area, and is expected to be open to patrons by the spring of 2023.

Depending on the way it built, a 450-gallon aquarium could be 3 feet wide, 3 feet tall and 7 feet long.

“We are hoping that we will have fish in the tank by March or April. So spring is kind of our timeline. We have to construct the tank, and then there is a period of acclimation where you have to leave just water (in the tank) before you can actually introduce any fish into it. So, we have to go through that entire process prior to having any live specimen in the tank,” Burchett said.

To learn more about Rotary Park, the Wade Bourne Nature Center, or other local parks, visit the Montgomery County Parks Department website.