Developed by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, the $11.3 million Tuckerton Seaport project officially opened on May 13, 2000, to a crowd of over a thousand, dedicated by then-governor Christine Todd Whitman and the widow of Jacques Cousteau, among others. However, the village held an unofficial "soft opening" a week earlier. In preparation for the new traffic created by the museum, the intersection of Route 9 and Great Bay Boulevard was redesigned, eliminating the "fork in the road" and the addition of Tuckerton's second traffic light. The nautical-style lampposts seen throughout the seaport were originally located at the former Trump Marina in Atlantic City, but were dismantled and then shipped to Tuckerton to make way for the Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector.
