Frank Harmon to Design NC Oyster Hatchery Facilities

Raleigh, NC, October 20, 2006 --(PR.com)-- Frank Harmon, FAIA, of Frank Harmon Architect in Raleigh, has been selected to design up to three oyster hatchery facilities and/or oyster research and education facilities along the coast for the North Carolina Aquarium Division.

Harmon will also work with the Division to design educational exhibits on the oyster hatchery program at each of the three state aquariums: Fort Fisher, Pine Knoll Sores, and Roanoke Island.

According to the N.C. Aquarium Division, the current plan is to establish two hatcheries that will produce 1 to 3 billion eyed larvae each and one research facility that will produce from 10-20 million eyed larvae. The facilities will include demonstration sites accessible for public tours and programs, and may be used to produce other aquatic species.

Joining Harmon as a consultant for the project is Dr. Stephen Cofer-Shabica, a coastal scientist based in Charleston, S.C., who has worked in coastal environmental research and consulting as a research oceanographer and resource manager with the federal government for 24 years.

Frank Harmon has extensive experience with projects that blend architecture with enhancement of and education about natural resources, including Duke University’s Ocean Science Teaching Center in Beaufort, NC, which will open in November. His firm also designed the Walter B. Jones Center for the Sounds, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Columbia, NC, and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences' Prairie Ridge Eco-Station. The firm is currently working on Merchants Millpond Outdoor Educational building in Gatesville, N.C., and the Walnut Creek Urban Wetlands Educational Park in Raleigh.

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