With nearly 300,000 visitors during the 22 weeks of its 2013-14 season, it’s safe to say the Manatee Viewing Center is doing things right. A group of special guests from Florida Power & Light (FPL) agreed – they’re drawing inspiration from Tampa Electric’s environmental education efforts to create FPL’s own facility for the public to see manatees.
FPL will locate its manatee center alongside the company’s new $1.3 billion natural-gas fired power plant on the Intracoastal Waterway in Riviera Beach, Fla. Like the Manatee Viewing Center (MVC), it will attract manatees to a sanctuary setting with the clean, warm water discharge from the plant. And like the MVC, it will educate the public about manatees, their habitat and natural Florida.
“We had a great visit with the group from FPL,” said Stan Kroh, manager of Land & Water Programs with Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS). “It’s pretty cool that a huge company like that would look to us for guidance.”
Joining Kroh were Paul Carpinone, director of EHS, and Tom Hernandez, vice president of Energy Supply. From FPL they welcomed Pam Rauch, vice president of Development & External Affairs; Alex Rubio, vice president of Corporate Real Estate; Sean Miller, senior director of Development; and Justin Sobol, project development coordinator.
In addition to the MVC itself, the Tampa Electric team shared a glimpse into the future just south of the center, where work on the Florida Conservation and Technology Center continues.
In an email to Hernandez, Carpinone and Kroh, Rauch shared her group’s appreciation:
Thank you so much for taking the time to show our FPL team your Manatee Viewing Center today! We were all very impressed by what you are doing and what you are planning to do! Your insights on the operations were most helpful as we too try to develop a community offering as part of our Riviera Beach modernization project.
“Capping off such a great year at the MVC, the visit from FPL is a real testament to what our environmental effort has achieved,” Carpinone said. “We’re proud if we can make a difference that way.”
The MVC reopens for the public on Nov. 1, 2014.
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