Claude Peete Mariculture Hatchery, Laboratory & Office Building
Gulf Shores, AL
Owner: Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, Marine Resources Division
Size: 31,000 SF
Project Services: Architecture, Surveying, Civil, Structural, Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical Engineering
Description: The building houses brood tanks, hatcheries, and closed marine environments for raising a variety of game fish and has process space for growing zooplankton and algae food stocks for the fish. Laboratory space is used for research and to monitor food quality and growth of fish for transfer to outdoor ponds and then final release in the Gulf of Mexico. Critical water quality and temperature factors require 24/7 emergency power systems. The facility is fed by raw water piped directly from the Gulf and the Inter-Costal Waterway to generate varying levels of salinity for the different growth stages of the fish. The facility also serves as an educational center providing exhibit space, observation windows, and hands-on "touch tanks" where different aquatic life can be experienced firsthand by school children.