![]() During the renovation, the Giant Ocean Tank's residents lived temporarily in the penguin habitat at the base of the exhibit, while the penguins were relocated to the Quincy Animal Care Center. The Yawkey Coral Reef Center was also added to the viewing area at the top of the exhibit, which reopened in 2013. In the last of $42 million in upgrades that started in 2007, the aquarium once again worked with Cambridge Seven Associates to make improvements to the Giant Ocean Tank, including an expanded coral reef, larger, acrylic viewing windows, and a more advanced lighting array. In 2011, the aquarium added an Australian Great Southern Reef exhibit, featuring leafy and weedy seadragons, to the Temperate Gallery and started its own captive breeding program for the species. The 23,000-square-foot (2,100 m 2) off-site facility, located in Quincy, has large tanks for holding animals during exhibit renovations, quarantining new arrivals, and rehabilitating rescued sea turtles.Ī weedy sea dragon in the Temperate Gallery In 2010, the new Animal Care Center opened. This open-air exhibit lets guests and passersby view the aquarium's California sea lions and northern fur seals. In 2009, the New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center opened on the rear of the aquarium. Also in 2020, contemporary artist Shepard Fairley designed and painted the mural A Vital and Vibrant Ocean for All, featuring a North Atlantic right whale, on the façade of the theatre. The current theatre seats 378 and has a stage for hosting special events. A renovation in 2020 replaced the IMAX system with a digital projector capable of showing 2D and 3D films on the theatre's new 80-foot (24 m) by 43-foot (13 m) screen. The 428-seat Matthew and Marcia Simons Theatre opened in 2001 in a separate building on Central Wharf designed by E. The glass and steel addition to the original concrete building also included a new gift shop and the Harbor View Café. The new West Wing, designed by Schwartz/Silver Architects, was completed in 1998. The aging Discovery was finally decommissioned in the mid-2000s due to rising maintenance costs. In addition to the aquarium's first California sea lions, bottlenose dolphins performed there until they were transferred in the mid-1990s. ![]() As the aquarium’s location on the wharf limited its ability to expand, Discovery served as a floating addition containing a 1,000-seat amphitheater overlooking a 116,000-US-gallon (440,000 L) saltwater pool for marine mammals. In 1974, a purpose-built, multi-storied barge, Discovery, was moored next to Central Wharf. The Giant Ocean Tank, a 200,000-US-gallon (760,000 L) cylindrical exhibit made of concrete and glass, opened in 1970. The brutalist concrete building with its cavernous interior was opened to the public in 1969. Stone led the project as President of the New England Aquarium Corporation. The base of the Giant Ocean Tank under construction on the decaying Central Wharf in 1966Īs part of the city’s goal of revitalizing the waterfront, a new, modern aquarium, designed by Peter Chermayeff of Cambridge Seven Associates, was planned starting in 1962. History īoston has had multiple aquariums since the 1880s, the last before the New England Aquarium being the South Boston Aquarium at Marine Park, which closed its doors in the 1950s. ![]() The Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium conducts long-running research on the North Atlantic right whale, and its Quincy Animal Care Center rescues and rehabilitates hundreds of sea turtles annually. More than 1.3 million guests visited the aquarium each year prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the main aquarium building, attractions at Central Wharf include the Simons Theatre and the New England Aquarium Whale Watch. The species exhibited include harbor and northern fur seals, California sea lions, African and southern rockhopper penguins, giant Pacific octopuses, weedy seadragons, and thousands of saltwater and freshwater fishes. The New England Aquarium is a nonprofit organization located in Boston, Massachusetts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |