PENDER COUNTY, N.C. -- A more than 7,000 square foot satellite aquarium is moving closer to reality.

• Three firms competing: HH Architecture, Lindsey Architecture and Bowman Murry Hemingway
• Blake Farm Development believes it's a good time for the aquarium
• No word on when a firm will be chosen

Now, designers are competing for the right to design the new shellfish home.

The three firms include Raleigh's HH Architecture, Greensboro's Lindsey Architecture and Bowman Murray Hemingway from Wilmington. 

One firm says they have done aquariums before and are excited to be in the running. 

"I've worked with aquariums over a period of 17 years and so I've learned a lot about how aquariums go together and the life support systems and the exhibits themselves," said Bowman Murray Hemingway's Chip Hemingway.

In 2017 the Blake Farm Development, piloted by Trask Land Company, released a statement about why they believe now is a good time for the aquarium: 

"Now is a great time because Pender and everything north of Ogden is growing at an exponential rate. Blake Farm is strategically positioned to provide access to I-140, I-40 and Highway 17 traffic. The “eat local” and “farm to table” movements have placed a premium on North Carolina shellfish and argue for the need and success of the satellite aquarium. Not only will the aquarium serve as an educational facility and historical archive, it will operate as a high volume economic development tool and branding vehicle for NC Seafood.

The aquarium satellite is an impressive branding opportunity for North Carolina seafood, with its presence alone providing a reminder to more than 40,000 automobiles every day. The programming will create additional publicity and the electronic footprint of the project will reach an exponentially greater number of people with the constant reminder to purchase and consume North Carolina seafood."

There is no word yet on when a firm will be chosen.