“Our goal is to make visitors feel like they’re having an entirely new experience,’’ aquarium president Bud Ris said Wednesday.
For most visitors, the most striking change is likely to be how they experience the ocean tank, which was the world’s largest such installation when the aquarium opened. The 200,000-gallon tank will get enlarged viewing windows, a new reef exhibit inside it, and a reflective domed ceiling overhead. During the months when the tank is being overhauled, its 800 marine inhabitants will be temporarily relocated to the ground-floor penguin exhibit, a 150,000-gallon habitat that is home to more than 80 birds.
Rather than build a new facility from scratch at a cost that could approach $400 million, Ris said, aquarium trustees approved a $42.5 million expansion and renovation plan - still a significant sum, he noted, but one more in keeping with the blueprint by which Fenway Park has been remodeled in recent years rather than replaced altogether.
“What’s being done is mostly driven by our strategic plan, together with the fact that this is a 40-year-old building housing live animals in a corrosive environment,’’ said board chairman Bill Burgess. “Plus, we want to do the right thing by our mission.’’
Trustees are trying to raise the final $3 million in capital funding, Burgess said. The bulk of the $39 million raised to so far has come from individual donors, board members, companies, and foundations. New Balance, for one, acquired naming rights to the $12 million marine mammal center that opened in 2009. Another major source, the Trust Family Foundation, underwrote the $1.5 million shark and ray touch tank that opened last year and bears its name.
Another $2 million has been spent on bringing the facility up to code on systems such as fire alarms and sprinklers. All improvements are being funded by donors and not by incurring additional debt, officials said.
