HARBOR BRANCH - OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

$250,000 DONATION TO FUND NEW HARBOR BRANCH VISITOR CENTER

FT. PIERCE, Fla. -- Jan. 13/06 -- Harbor Branch has received $250,000 from an anonymous donor to fund renovations for Phase I of a new visitor center and displays illustrating the institution's research and ocean science in general.

The donor asked that the entire $250,000 gift be applied to creating the new visitor center. However, the gift was made during the early stages of expanding fundraising efforts at Harbor Branch as a "challenge grant" with the expressed intention of encouraging new donations to the institution to support and expand Harbor Branch research programs.

"This new facility is something we've wanted for some time to help us strengthen our connection to the local community, " said Shirley Pomponi, Harbor Branch's president and CEO. "We know that people are fascinated by the research we do but for logistical reasons we haven't always been able to show what is happening behind our gates and out at sea," she said, "Now we will be able to do that, and we can't thank our donor enough."

The new center will be housed in the same building that had been the Harbor Branch Gift Shop. The bulk of the space will be dedicated to interpretive displays and exhibits, aquaria, and a small theater where Harbor Branch-related documentaries and other materials will be shown. A portion of the building will also be dedicated as office and workspace for the Harbor Branch Associates Program, and there will also be a small gift shop area where Harbor Branch-branded merchandise will be sold.

"We are very excited about having an easily accessible location for the Associates Program to interact with members and the public," said Patti Gibbons, coordinator of the Associates Program.

Renovation work is already underway, and the center should open in the fall. To make way for exhibits, Harbor Branch will hold a sale from 12:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day from January 23-26, with extended hours until 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Prices will be discounted up to 80% to liquidate remaining stock from the former gift ship.

Harbor Branch's long-term plan is to expand the visitor center with a new auditorium and additional larger building on land adjacent to the existing building.

For additional information, please contact Mark Schrope - Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
772-216-0390 - schrope@hboi.edu

HARBOR BRANCH Oceanographic Institution was founded in Ft. Pierce, Fla., in 1971 to support the exploration and conservation of the world's oceans. The institution has held to this mission and grown into one of the world's leading oceanographic institutions with a 500-acre campus, over 200 personnel, and a fleet of sophisticated research ships and submersibles.