The "Best Little Aquarium in the World" — the state aquarium in Waikiki — has ambitions of becoming a modern world-class attraction now that proposals to build competing facilities elsewhere on O'ahu were abandoned recently.

Under a plan in conceptual formation, Waikiki Aquarium director Andrew Rossiter envisions rebuilding the 52-year-old complex that for years has visibly shown signs of distress and declining visitor satisfaction.

A new complex, Rossiter said, would ideally be about three times as big as the existing aquarium on the same oceanfront site next to Queen's Surf Beach makai of Kapi'olani Park.

Such a facility would be of modest size relative to industry mega-aquarium standards, but could cost an estimated $150 million to $160 million — about double the $75 million in state tax credits allocated four years ago to finance an aquarium at Ko Olina Resort & Marina.

"We're not modest in our aims and objectives," Rossiter said. "We want to be the best."

The Waikiki Aquarium is the third-oldest public aquarium in the country. It draws about 350,000 visitors a year. It exhibits species shown nowhere else in the world and is renown for its expertise in living coral and other areas. But its gallery building is only 14,000 square feet and has corroding systems and infrastructure.

Earlier this year, plans were abandoned to establish the Ko Olina aquarium, which prompted a legislative bill to revive an old idea to replace the Waikiki Aquarium with a mega-aquarium in Kaka'ako. But that initiative also fizzled, after the House Tourism & Culture Committee deferred the measure.

Given the absence of competing plans, Rossiter believes it's time for the state to stop making patchwork repairs and improvements to the Waikiki Aquarium, and instead rebuild it, because a general need and public desire still exists for O'ahu to have a modern aquarium.

Toni Marie Davis, executive director of the Activity and Attractions Association of Hawaii trade group, believes that Rossiter's aim is not too ambitious to succeed.

"I think it's perfect timing," Davis said. "It needs to happen. It makes total sense."

Other observers foresee difficulty in convincing state leaders to replace a functioning aquarium, which falls under the administration of the University of Hawai'i.

TESTING POLITICAL WILL

Rossiter, who was hired three years ago from a modern aquarium in Japan, is optimistic that enough public and political will exists along with available resources to redevelop Waikiki Aquarium, which is renown for some exhibits and research but can disappoint visitors who have been to newer aquariums.

"There is literally so much potential in this place," he said. "But there's only so many fingers you can put in the holes of the dam before the whole thing gives away."

Replacing the aquarium on site, Rossiter said, would preserve the intimacy, convenient tourist accessibility and history of the Waikiki Aquarium, which dates back more than 100 years, and provide newer, bigger and more interactive exhibits as well as badly needed research space.

Max Kanoa, a local flight attendant with an annual aquarium pass, said his 2-year-old daughter loves the exhibits, but it's clear to him that improvements are needed.

"I guess the funding is not there," he said. "Being that we're in the middle of the Pacific in Hawai'i, I think we should have one of the best aquariums in the nation, if not the world. If tourism is your No. 1 industry, you would think they would have a facility to show the ocean and the sea life. They do, but it's such a small scale."

Waikiki Aquarium was established as the Honolulu Aquarium in 1904 on a site just mauka of the facility's present location, which gave rise to the current aquarium building in 1955.

The last major public renovation of the facility in the last 52 years was a $3 million upgrade in 1994 that added some new exhibits and research facilities.

Since 1994, the aquarium has added a few new exhibits paid for mostly by private donors and operating budget surpluses, but erosion to the building has festered.

Rossiter said several visitors have fainted in the main gallery on humid summer days because air-conditioning system corrosion inhibits cooling the building. The problem is a constant source of complaints on humid days, and has caused parents to cancel educational classes for children, he added.

On rainy days, several places inside the aquarium and back offices leak water from the ceiling because of salt corrosion to the roof.

Another problem is the electrical system, which operates at maximum capacity and prohibits any exhibit or research additions that demand power.

Rossiter said some visitors who have been to modern mega-aquariums complain about their Waikiki Aquarium experience after zipping through the exhibits in 15 minutes.

Still, visitor surveys give the aquarium high marks. Last year 81 percent of visitors said their experience was good or excellent as opposed to average or poor, though that's down slightly from prior years.

Norm Clements, a retiree visiting from Pennsylvania, spent about 90 minutes last week touring the aquarium and had only praise for the attraction, which he also visited 20 years ago.

"It is small-scale, but very informative and pertaining to Hawai'i," he said. "On the whole I give it a 10."

CHALLENGED BY SPACE

Teri McMahon, a Hawai'i transplant from Louisiana, where she's been to that state's huge aquarium, said the Waikiki Aquarium was a lot smaller than she expected and probably could use more interactive exhibits. "But for what they have," she said, "they do a really good job."

Rossiter said the aquarium has largely maintained its high regard as a unique facility despite its shortcomings.

"Perhaps the most remarkable fact is that despite the decrepit physical structure of the building, despite the substandard and dated infrastructure, and despite the lack of investment afforded to it, the public face of the aquarium is still treasured by local families and appreciated by tourists," he said in testimony before the Legislature recently.

Rossiter testified on the bill that proposed using the $75 million Ko Olina tax credit for an aquarium in Kaka'ako, and urged lawmakers to instead invest in the Waikiki Aquarium.

"Please invest wisely, invest in us, and allow the (Waikiki Aquarium) to achieve its immense potential," he testified.

Plans for a mega-aquarium in Kaka'ako have come and gone several times since the mid-1990s under different private and public initiatives, which Rossiter said inhibited spending on the Waikiki Aquarium.

"This has hung like the sword of Damocles over plans and investment in our future," he said. "It's like a perennial phoenix that rises from the ashes."

For instance, a $10 million aquarium renovation was approved in the early 1990s, but only the first phase of work was completed for about $3 million in 1994 because no more money was released as plans for Kaka'ako were pursued.

Over the last decade, Kaka'ako aquarium supporters, including then Waikiki Aquarium director Bruce Carlson, envisioned a mega-aquarium, which could not be built on the 2.4-acre Waikiki site because of its size and a 25-foot height restriction.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano, who championed a Kaka'ako aquarium in the 1990s, said the idea was to create a signature attraction that people could identify Hawai'i with, similar to the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

"The Waikiki Aquarium can be improved, but no matter what is done, it will never be 'world class,' " Cayetano said. "Compared to other 'world-class' aquariums and given the height restrictions, the Waikiki Aquarium — even if improved and enlarged — will still be too small."

Rossiter disagrees, and said the aquarium can become one of the world's premiere aquariums by tripling its size in a modern setting of exhibits.

Gary K. Ostrander, the university's vice chancellor for research and graduate education who has been involved with aquariums in Seattle and Baltimore, regards the Waikiki Aquarium's size and location as strategically valuable.

LARGER OR JUST BETTER?

"I'm not convinced that building a mega-aquarium (outside Waikiki) will draw that many more people," he said. "It's not about having a 100,000-gallon or 200,000-gallon tank to put whale sharks. It's not size that defines excellence."

Still, Ostrander isn't sure rebuilding the Waikiki Aquarium larger makes more sense than giving it a major renovation. Such a decision would need to be studied based on detailed plans and costs, which is something Ostrander supports because the aquarium continues to deteriorate.

House Tourism & Culture Committee chairman Ryan Yamane, D-37th (Waipahu, Mililani), said redeveloping the aquarium is a good idea, but may be a tough sell at $100 million or more.

"I think that would be challenging especially because we have so many needs in other areas," he said.

Yamane said a private-public partnership may be a way to finance such a project, and that it's important to have the discussion on redevelopment given repair needs of the aquarium.

Last year, the Legislature appropriated $1.5 million to improve the roof and electrical system, but construction bids came in at $2 million and the work has been delayed.

Rossiter said he will try to have as much repair work completed as a short-term fix, but will pursue redevelopment as part of a master-planning effort that previously only included adding a new research building to the aquarium.

"Hopefully now with the two aquarium plans (canceled) we will get the attention we certainly need and I think we deserve," he said.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.