Florida Power & Light

A Dynamic Visitor Center Celebrates Manatees and Champions Communities

Florida Power and Light (FPL), the third-largest electric utility in the United States, needed assistance creating a visitor facility for its Riviera Beach Next Generation Clean Energy Center, focused on the manatees that are drawn to the surrounding waterways in cool weather. The warm-water outflow from the company’s plant attracts hundreds of manatees every winter, but security restrictions in recent years had prevented FPL from accommodating visitors who wished to watch these animals.

History Factory worked alongside FPL and its partner agencies to develop Manatee Lagoon: An Eco-Discovery Center. Manatee Lagoon is an educational exhibit for middle school and high school students and their families that includes traditional exhibit content as well as interactive components and hands-on activities. Exhibit messaging reinforces the importance of conservation in a way that is interesting, lighthearted and age-appropriate. Interactive elements provide a deeper dive into details: tracking manatees as they migrate, offering video interviews with experts, and allowing visitors to navigate “Mia the Manatee” to safety in a video game. An exterior boardwalk gives visitors an up-close view of the manatees and other fish and wildlife.

FPL’s Manatee Lagoon opened with enthusiastic reviews from government agencies and the scientific community and drew thousands of visitors in its first weekend. Ongoing partnerships with schools and summer camps draw members of the community and provide FPL with a new platform for community engagement. FPL’s strategy for sustaining public interest includes a coordinated media campaign, a website and a Facebook page.