When I heard that Jacobs Investments Inc. wasn’t going to renew the leases for Howl at the Moon and Rock Bottom Brewery, at the Power House on the Flats West Bank, I was admittedly a bit sad.  I often reminisce about brew festivals and dueling pianos of year’s gone by.

When I got the news that the reason for this was that Plans for the Power House Aquarium finally got the “go ahead,” my sadness quickly turned to excitement!

This is one more reason to be excited about Cleveland in 2011.  Phase I of The Greater Cleveland Aquarium is expected to open late this year.  The $33million, 70,000 square foot project is being brought to us courtesy of New Zealand’s Marinescape NZ Ltd and will include a SeaTube, a pedestrian tube that allows visitors to walk through the middle of the aquarium.

There has been a lot of talk and competition for Cleveland’s first aquarium including plans for an aquarium twice the size of the Jacob’s, which would be along the North Coast, next to Brown’s Stadium.  It is very possible that these plans could still be realized and co-exist with the West Bank Aquarium.  Whatever the future holds, thanks to the Jacobs, it seems a certainty that Clevelanders will be able to enjoy some underwater entertainment sooner rather than later.