Past inspires future of new Tacoma aquarium

By David Guest

Tacoma Daily Index editor

Ground was officially broke on Tacoma’s new aquarium project on Monday when Metro Parks officials, politicians, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium workers and media members gathered at the site to pass it off to excavators and concrete trucks for the next two years.

When the little, brightly-colored plastic shovels dug through a pile of sand at the ground breaking of Tacoma’s $51.6 million addition to the park, the symbolism of the event took center stage.

“Now that the kids have arrived, all the important people are here,” said Gary Geddes, director of zoological and environmental eduction for Metro Parks.

Children are enlisted to break ground for construction of Tacoma's new Pacific Seas Aquarium, Monday, July 11. Credit: David Guest / TDI — Children are enlisted to break ground for construction of Tacoma’s new Pacific Seas Aquarium, Monday, July 11. Credit: David Guest / TDI

Children dressed in lime-green turtle costumes and not so menacing shark outfits tossed the sand around and needed to be pulled away from the activity well after the adults had finished their speeches. It was child’s play after all. The adults could have posed for photos with gilded shovels, but kids – representing the past, present and future motivation to build and expand Tacoma’s aquarium – were the fitting choice to kick off the two-year construction phase of the project.

“I have such fond memories of the North Pacific Aquarium,” said Metro Parks Commissioner Erik Hanberg of the 53-year-old aquarium that is being replaced. “When I was young, I did the sleepover at the aquarium. Now, I have a two-year-old and a four-year-old and we bring then to the aquarium all the time.”

Artist rendering of Baja Bay underwater viewing area. Credit: Metro Parks

The Pacific Seas Aquarium, a 35,000-square-foot facility, will house several large tanks, including the massive 250,000 gallon Baja Bay tank which will be home to warm-water species such as hammerhead sharks, green sea turtles and spotted rays. The underwater viewing window will span 32 feet, allowing visitors to become totally immersed in the undersea experience.

When completed in 2018, the aquarium will house the current collection housed at the North Pacific facility which opened in 1963. That facility will be cleaned, repaired and put to another use at some point in the future when funds are available.

Gary Geddes, director of zoological and environmental education for Metro Parks. Credit: David Guest / TDI

The aquarium’s stated core mission is conservation, and when voters approved the 2014 bond measure to fund the aquarium expansion, they provided the means to continue the aquarium’s educational goals that were established in 1936.

“In this new aquarium, we’re going to see some things that Tacoma hasn’t seen before,” said Geddes. “We want to inspire conservation action. So many things are happening in our oceans that need our support. The way that we do that is to immerse the kids at a really young age in a great ocean-type experience. We’ll do that with this new aquarium.”

The hammerhead sharks will arrive at the park from Hawaii in the coming months once the new Aquatic Animal Care Center is completed. They won’t be on display until the new aquarium opens, but the juvenile sharks will be able to grow and acclimate to their new surroundings.