Having outgrown its space at the pier, construction started on a new facility at the present location which would include a larger aquarium pool as well as a Spanish Courtyard and planetarium. The new, expanded facility opened in October 1966. In 1980 the expanded Spanish Plaza opened, emphasizing the area's Spanish heritage with a full-scale replica of Hernando DeSoto's home in Barcarrota, Spain, a 16th-century chapel, and a fountain with a bronze sculpture of DeSoto on Horseback. In 1993, the newly designed and massively expanded Parker Manatee Aquarium joined the South Florida Museum Complex and became a part of the Manatee Rehabilitation Network with a 60,000 gallon pool capable of housing up to three adult manatees.
