ROCKPORT AQUARIUM COMPLETION SET FOR SPRING 2027

Eight years after Hurricane Harvey destroyed the original building, Aransas County moves forward with rebuilding project.

Author: Lidia Herrera

Published: 6:01 PM CDT August 15, 2025

Updated: 6:01 PM CDT August 15, 2025

ROCKPORT, Texas — The Aquarium at the Rockport Harbor is set to make a comeback after it was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. 

The aquarium was a staple in the Rockport community for years, welcoming more than 35,000 visitors annually.

President of the Board of Directors for the Aquarium at the Rockport Harbor Christopher Mace said he volunteered year-round and saw visitors travel from far and away just to enjoy the aquarium. 

"You know a day doesn't go by where someone doesn't come through here. Perhaps they see the education center sign and they wonder about the aquarium," Mace said. "People remember it from a long time ago as maybe even as far back as the 60s and 70s when it was in the marine lab, and it's been two, three, and four generations of visitors to it."

But in 2017, Hurricane Harvey destroyed the building. 

 "It devastated not only the whole town but, the aquarium's building," Mace said. "The building collapsed on itself and it just that was it. It was a dangerous building afterwards we couldn't restore it completely folded in on itself."

For eight years, the foundation of the original building sat empty, but Aransas County Judge Ray Garza said that could soon change with a new project now underway.

"The old one was just a metal building with a with aquariums in them," Garza said. "This one's going to be designed and it's going to be a nice aquarium. It's going to be intended to be an aquarium."

Garza said this project has been years in the making but now, the county is finally moving forward.

"A couple of months ago we the court approved um the hiring of an architect and it's uh Garza, Bramberger and Associates and they're actually the architects that designed the Texas State Aquarium," Garza said.

As a Rockport native, Garza understands firsthand just how important this building is to the community.

"When I moved back home in 2013, I brought with me three small children, and there was no cover there was no charge to attend the aquarium, so it was a huge hit," Garza said. "We were always at the aquarium. They had activities there."

As a marine biologist, Mace said rebuilding this facility will benefit countless students for years to come.

"That's one of the real challenges," Mace said. "When you look out here, you can't see the wildlife that exists here. Commonly it's below the sea, below the water. We bring that out."

Judge Garza said the renderings are still in progress, but the goal is to complete construction of the new aquarium by spring 2027.