One night, while strolling along the beach I came across, Dr. Stephen Hadley and his wife Denise, in the final stages of pregnancy with their first child. Steve said, "Randy, I've got a crazy idea about an aquarium, marine life research center, rescue and education facility, and you're going to help me build it, you're going to get people to see the vision and get behind it." He went on to say, let's get together after the baby is born to discuss the details. Denise would go into labor that very night.
When Steve laid out his brilliantly, detailed, and impressively extensive plan to meet the needs of a marine life rescue, research and, most of all, education facility I exclaimed, "I'm in", with out hesitation. When I asked how much money we needed he said about $60 million, a number that would later become $80 million, and finally $117 million.
But I did not hesitate for a moment. Steve's vision was clear, the mission wonderful, and I had that familiar feeling when something comes from a place of passion and wanting to make a positive difference in the world. I knew Steve wanted to help, I knew he genuinely was driven to open the eyes of the public, especially children, to the marvels of the sea, and, through education, instill a sense of wonder and stewardship. I was resolved, this aquarium must be built.
Impossible, we were told. "You can't do it". "You'll never raise that kind of money these days", were the words of a leading fund raising expert. Just a few years later I would find myself at a meeting, regards another project, with that same fund raising consultant. The room happened to over look the, now in construction, Aquarium. He promptly acknowledged his miscalculation and extended his enthusiastic congratulations.
The top four finalists of the University students Aquarium logo contest
and the logo selected for the Aquarium of the Pacific
But the true success of this ambitious project was with in the coming together of countless individuals. There were times, at the very beginning, just Steve and I, when our task seemed daunting. But one by one people started to see the vision, get the mission, and begin working toward making the aquarium a reality. The millions of dollars raised started with a single donation of $150.00 from one individual. The project took on a life of it's own, driven by the collective desire to help, to make a difference, to better the world. When people want to help, I've found, rather than consider what's in it for them, we witness amazing power to make things happen, resulting in true and genuine satisfaction.
In 1992 the vision was fulfilled, and it was clear that a world class aquarium, education and research center would become a reality. Construction on the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific was completed in 1998.
Pictured below you can see (from L to R) myself, then Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neil, and founder Dr. Stephen Hadley, at the Aquarium of the Pacific Grand Opening. Stephen Hadley also served, for a short time, as CFO of Celebrity International.
We are capable of anything if we just believe, in our own infinite potential, and come together as one.