24 Jul 2017
Seattle Aquarium plans US$100m expansion
BY Ben Coxon
Seattle Aquarium has unveiled plans to expand its premises, with a new US$100 million (€858m, £770m) Ocean Pavilion coming to the US aquarium in 2023.
Situated next to the existing aquarium building on Piers 59 and 60, preliminary designs by Seattle-based architecture firm LMN include a 350,000-gallon (1.6m litre) warm-water tank as the central focus of a 50,000 sq ft (4,645sq m) pavilion building.
This tank, three times larger than the aquarium's current largest exhibit, will give visitors a “visceral experience” of the Pacific Ocean's Coral Triangle region off the coasts of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia, and will house sharks, sea turtles and corals.
The planned development will provide the aquarium with a number of new educational and research facilities, strengthening its role in conservation. Aquarium CEO Bob Davidson said in a statement that he hoped the work would help visitors develop an “ocean ethic,” inspiring them to educate themselves and take action on ocean issues.
The aquarium expansion is being developed in tandem with the larger renovation of the Seattle Waterfront, a US$700 million (€600m, £539m) project to transform the city landscape. As part of that work, a new Aquarium Plaza will connect the Ocean Pavilion with the recently opened Marketfront expansion.
The expansion is likely to increase visitor numbers at the aquarium to 1.2 million visitors annually – an increase from its current peak capacity of 850,000. The project is being funded by a number of private and public donors, with Davidson calling the plans “a partnership between the city and community”.
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