ST. PETERSBURG — A shuttered aquarium and the city's largely empty port have joined forces in hopes of turning a neglected stretch of waterfront into an international destination for marine research and education.

Last week, the City Council approved a three-year lease for $10 a year giving the former Pier Aquarium a new space in the port's visitor terminal.

The Pier Aquarium, housed in the now-shuttered landmark for 25 years, had planned to move to John's Pass at Madeira Beach. That plan, however, fell through. Meanwhile, the port has struggled for years to find a moneymaking role.

The city and state will provide $200,000 to renovate the terminal into exhibit space and a 3-D movie theater that will show clips from the environmentally themed Blue Ocean Film Festival.

The port, recently upgraded with top-shelf electronics, is also keen on attracting research vessels. An attempt to lure a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather ship didn't work out, but efforts are continuing, said Walt Miller, the port's manager.

The proposed attraction, dubbed Secrets of the Sea Marine Exploration Center and Aquarium, is a consortium of the University of South Florida College of Marine Science and a host of other nonprofits, and state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard and NOAA.

The aquarium will display some of the familiar exhibits from its Pier days, but will have new flourishes like NOAA's "Science on a sphere," which Miller described as a suspended planetariumlike representation of weather and ocean conditions.

If all goes well and the aquarium is able to raise about $250,000, the facility will open next spring.

The 11,000 square feet available at the port — more than five times the space at the Pier — is an upgrade over the old digs. But the hope is to someday build a larger facility on the waterfront, said Mark Luther, a USF oceanographer, who is heading the effort.

"We're tentatively calling this a preview center to give people a taste of what could be a much larger international and technology attraction," Luther said.

City Council member Jim Kennedy said the short-term lease, which could be extended, is a promising sign for the port's fortunes, but doesn't solve its long-term troubles.

Over the years, gambling ships, cruise ships, even a seafood market have come and gone. More recently, restyling the port to attract megayachts has met with little success.

"This stresses the need for us as a city to look at the long-range plan of what we're going to do with the port," Kennedy said.

William Hogarth, director of the Florida Institute of Oceanography, said revenue generated by the marine science industry outpaces citrus, cattle and the space industry in Florida. St. Petersburg is a natural spot to focus the industry with its access to Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

Eventually, Hogarth said, it could be an international research destination, attracting tourists and students.

For now, schoolchildren will be the steady draw, Miller said. The plan is for school tours to fill the center during the morning and the general public in the afternoons.

But, first, supporters have to raise awareness that the port is open for business. A food truck rally last month attracted several hundred people. Now the challenge is bringing them back on a regular basis.

"I'm constantly amazed at how few people in St. Petersburg realize how much marine science and technology is going on in their own back yards," Luther said. "So our primary mission is to spread that word,"

Contact Charlie Frago at cfrago@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8459. Follow @CharlieFrago.