New York Aquarium embarks on $150M renovation

This fall, the New York Aquarium in Coney Island will break ground on a $150 million renovation project, set to open in spring 2015, the New York Daily News reported. The aquarium, originally moved to Coney Island from Battery Park in 1957, plans to raise $30 million of the cost of the project itself through the Wildlife Conservation Society, the non-profit that administers the aquarium, and hopes the city will kick in the rest of the funds, the News said.

“We’re breaking down the wall that now encloses the aquarium and opening us not only to the boardwalk, but to the beach and the ocean,” aquarium director Jon Forrest Dohlin told the News. The aquarium is also adding an exhibit called “Ocean Wonders: Sharks!” where “guests can walk through a tunnel while the mighty predators swim overhead,” according to the News.

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When all is said and done the new aquarium will be 55,000 square feet and three stories, with a a roof deck overlooking the ocean, a cafe and seating wall. [NYDN]