Owners of The Adventure Park at Virginia Aquarium had high hopes a couple of years ago.
They wanted to build a 125-foot tower above the trees at an expansion of the park called Owl Creek Landing.
The city said it had to be shorter after the Navy balked at the height because people might see into military installations.
Outdoor Ventures, which runs the park and Owl Creek Landing, built the tower one-half the original size. People who climbed it couldn’t see the ocean, only trees.
So, it launched Lumi SkyWalk, a lighted show, to bring in more people but learned earlier this year the city’s annual holiday lights display was moving from the Boardwalk to the aquarium grounds.
Now Outdoor Ventures is suing the city and Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center Foundation for $20 million and to block Virginia Beach’s Holiday Trail of Lights from operating at the aquarium. The plaintiff in October amended the lawsuit to include Beach Events, which operates the holiday lights for the city, and seeks $1 million.
Both lights shows are scheduled to open on Nov. 20.
“If we have two light shows going on at the same time next to each other, there’s going to be a tremendous amount of confusion,” Bahman Azarm, president and CEO of Outdoor Ventures, said.
A city spokesperson said the holiday show is proceeding as planned.
“Our initial assessment, as to the claims against the city, is that it is completely without factual or legal merit,” Deputy City Attorney Chris Boynton said.
An aquarium spokesperson said the foundation cannot comment because the matter is pending. Beach Events referred WHRO to the city.
Operating since 2014, The Adventure Park is at the aquarium off General Booth Boulevard. Behind it is Owl Creek Landing, the second phase of Outdoor Venture’s agreement with the foundation and it opened last year on 38 acres of city land.
“We have loved being in Virginia Beach, and we’ve had a very good relationship with the foundation and the aquarium since 2014 until this particular thing came about,” Azarm said.
In 2024, the company announced it would build a 125-foot Nautilus Observation Tower at Owl Creek Landing.
The Navy objected because parts of Naval Air Station Oceana and Dam Neck Annex would be seen from the tower. The Navy objected to screening atop the tower, too. The Navy would agree to a height at or below the tree canopy.
Outdoor Ventures built the shorter tower, opened later than planned and didn’t earn as much as anticipated, the suit claims.
The tower features a slide called the Whorl that’s billed as the longest in the U.S. and made news when it opened last year. The tower links with elevated paths through the treetops.
The remainder of the tower structure is stored while the business tries to sell it.
Minutes of a September 2024 foundation meeting showed the business was “less assured” of success after spending millions. Ideas to attract customers discussed included “a nighttime light story experience in the treetops for guests.”
That became Lumi SkyWalk.
Virginia Beach’s annual holiday lights relocated to the aquarium. And people will walk through rather than drive. The lawsuit says they would compete “for the same customers at the same times, a few hundred feet away.”
In May, the plaintiff notified the foundation with a written notice that the agreement was breached, but the foundation denied this and refused to discuss it further, the lawsuit claims.
Azarm recently showed the view from the top of the tower, where a sign alludes to an ocean that can’t be seen through the trees.
“On a clear day, you can almost feel the sea breeze rolling in through the pines,” it reads.
