MOBILE, Ala. - When the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico opens in 2009, the City of Mobile's effort to establish Michael C. Dow Mobile Landing and reopen the downtown waterfront as a destination for Gulf Coast residents and visitors will make a dramatic leap forward.

"With its rich seafaring history and growing prominence on the Gulf Coast, Mobile provides an ideal location for a maritime museum of national significance," Tony Zodrow, Executive Director of the Maritime Museum, said. "In addition, Mobile is located within one-day's drive of virtually every Gulf Coast metropolitan area, which uniquely positions the Maritime Museum to address the needs of residents and visitors from every state on the Gulf Coast, from Texas to Florida."

The Maritime Museum will serve as the hub of public activity at Mobile Landing, which already is home to the Arthur Outlaw Convention Center, Cooper Riverside Park, and the Alabama Cruise Terminal. Thousands of new visitors will be drawn each year to this compelling attraction in downtown Mobile. "The Maritime Museum will greatly enhance public appreciation and usage for the waterfront including the park and amphitheater," Zodrow said. "In addition, we intend to partner with the Convention Center and the Cruise Terminal to attract their customers to the museum as well."

What?s more, the Maritime Museum?s building will house the city?s ferry terminal with passenger service that links downtown Mobile to other sites and attractions on the Alabama Gulf Coast. Land-based public transportation will connect ferry passengers with points of interest in downtown Mobile.

Within easy walking distance of the Museum of Mobile, the Exploreum and the Mobile Carnival Museum, the Maritime Museum will help to create a ?critical mass? of downtown museums, further establishing Mobile as a destination for out-of-town visitors. A planned pedestrian bridge across Water Street and the CSX railroad tracks will link the Maritime Museum with downtown Mobile's attractions and make parking downtown a viable option for museum visitors.

"Because the Maritime Museum will be unlike any other museum on the Gulf Coast, it has the opportunity to become a "signature attraction" for Mobile," Zodrow said. "Offering visitors something unique, something they can?t experience in New Orleans, Pensacola, Tampa or any other Gulf Coast city, will further brand Mobile?s tourism experience as worthy of a special trip for visitors."

In addition, the Maritime Museum will complement other local attractions that offer maritime-related experiences such as the USS Alabama and the Estuarium operated by Dauphin Island Sea Lab. "Visitors to Mobile who are drawn to the battleship or Dauphin Island should also be interested in seeing what the Maritime Museum has to offer for expanding that maritime experience," Zodrow said. "We intend to partner - in terms of programming and marketing - with other Mobile attractions that wish to create a positive, synergistic effect on their attendance base."

A marketing feasibility study on the Maritime Museum projected first year attendance to exceed 160,000 visitors based on the museum's appeal to tourists, residents and schools in Mobile and the Gulf Coast region. The study predicts a favorable operating environment for the Maritime Museum, with significant visitor segments including adults in their late 20s through 40s with children (or grandchildren) and seasonal residents over 50 years of age. "Young and old, landlubbers and seafarers alike, will have an adventure awaiting them inside the Maritime Museum," Zodrow said. "We intend to aggressively market the museum throughout the Gulf Coast region."