Nautical Museum Unveils Big Plans at 25th Anniversary Celebration

Byline: Taylor Hill NEWPORT BEACH — A 900-square-foot showroom at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum is now open to the public, providing a glimpse into the future plans for the museum, known as ExplorOcean. The proposed $35 million project was unveiled during the museum’s 25th anniversary celebration, where honorary chairman and Five Dives expedition leader Chris Welsh spoke about the proposed changes coming to Newport Harbor’s iconic Balboa Fun Zone area on the Balboa Peninsula. “There are a lot of people out there doing a lot of interesting exploration,” said Welsh, who will participate in a series of submarine dives to the deepest points of the world’s oceans. “To now have a home for that exploration is very exciting.” Replacing the current 34,000-square-foot Fun Zone and museum complex will be a 60-foot-high, 40,000-square-foot building with 1,000 linear feet of dock space and a new “Adventure Pier.” The museum’s main attraction will be a “4-D” sensory theater developed by the Hettama Group, which specializes in immersive theater experiences — including the ride/movie experience at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, called “Beyond All Boundaries.” For ExplorOcean, the theater experience will give museum-goers the feeling of traveling on a three-masted sailing vessel, diving the ocean’s...