Plans for €10m Limassol aquarium move to preliminary inquiry stage

Limassol’s Kourion municipality is pushing for the creation of a marine aquarium and Mediterranean marine life research centre on the western side of the Akrotiri municipal district, a project with an estimated cost of €10 million.

This development was reported by Entrepreneurial Limassol, a periodical published by the Limassol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Evel).

According to the report, the local authority has already submitted a request to the British Bases authorities seeking to lease a 16,000 square metre plot of land for the implementation of the project.

“A request has already been submitted to the British Bases authorities for the lease of a 16,000 square metre plot,” said Kourion mayor Pantelis Georgiou.

Georgiou also explained that a preliminary meeting with representatives of the British Bases has already taken place and that the discussions indicated a positive approach towards the project.

During the meeting, the bases requested that the local authority submit a preliminary inquiry to the Limassol District Local Government Organisation so that all relevant public utility services can review the plans.

The purpose of this step is to define the appropriate conditions and parameters that will be incorporated into the architectural competition planned for the project.

The Kourion municipality is currently preparing the preliminary inquiry that will be submitted to the Limassol District Local Government Organisation.

At the same time, Pantelis Georgiou has already informed the organisation’s licensing directorate about the forthcoming submission in order to accelerate the administrative procedures.

Georgiou also stated that the project is being viewed positively by organisations and institutions that could potentially finance or support its implementation.

“Our aim is to carry out the studies through a long-duration architectural competition with strict specifications and requirements for the designers, as this is not a simple project,” said Kourion mayor Pantelis Georgiou.

He added that the complexity of the project means that the process will require the involvement of ichthyologists and other specialised scientists.

Georgiou stressed that the development is expected to upgrade the Akrotiri municipal district and strengthen the environmental value of the area, while also becoming a landmark project for the wider Kourion region and for Cyprus as a whole.

The planned aquarium and research centre are expected to be constructed on the western side of Akrotiri, south of the chapel of Agios Georgios, on land that belongs to the British Bases.

Regarding the research centre, Georgiou explained that its objective will be to conduct research and studies related to the Mediterranean Sea and the broader marine environment of the Limassol bays and the Akrotiri peninsula.

He noted that the peninsula has significant environmental particularities, including underwater meadows of the marine plant Posidonia oceanica.

The area also faces a serious problem of coastal erosion, which the research centre could help to study and address through scientific analysis.

Through this initiative, the municipality hopes that the centre will become a reference point for the implementation of European research programmes.

Such programmes are currently difficult for the municipality to attract and manage independently without a dedicated research institution.

The project also aims to develop collaborations with scientific and research institutions in Cyprus and abroad, with initial contacts already having taken place.

The long-term vision is for the centre to undertake initiatives, pioneer research projects and establish itself within both the scientific community and the wider public.