Greater Cleveland Aquarium
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The Greater Cleveland Aquarium is an
aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, USA. Occupying the historic FirstEnergy Powerhouse building located on the west bank of the
Cuyahoga River The Cuyahoga River ( , or ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie. As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...
in the city's
Flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...
district, the aquarium, which opened in January 2012, consists of approximately of exhibition space and features 55 exhibits over 9 thematic concentrations representing both local and exotic species of fish. The facility is the only independent, free-standing aquarium in the state of Ohio and ended a 26-year period that the city lacked a public aquarium.


History

200px, left, The outside of the aquarium in 2021. A former Cleveland Aquarium opened on February 6, 1954, and was located on the city's near-east side in
Gordon Park Gordon Park may refer to: Places * Gordon Park, Cleveland, a city park located on the lakefront *Gordon Park, Milwaukee, a county park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA *Gordon Park, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia * Gordon Park, Zimbabwe P ...
. It was created by the Cleveland Aquarium Society, a group formed in the 1940s, the City of Cleveland and the
Cleveland Museum of Natural History The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum located approximately five miles (8 km) east of downtown Cleveland, Ohio in University Circle, a 550-acre (220 ha) concentration of educational, cultural and medical institu ...
, which operated the facility. The aquarium was housed in a building constructed in the 1930s that previously served as bath house. In 1943, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History converted it into a trailside museum, displaying local flora and fauna as well as exhibits of freshwater fish of
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
. That museum closed in 1953 when the
Cleveland Memorial Shoreway The Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, often shortened to "the Shoreway", is a limited-access freeway in Cleveland and Bratenahl, Ohio. It closely follows the shore of Lake Erie and connects the east and west sides of Cleveland via the Main Avenue Bri ...
cut Gordon Park in two. In the early 1950s, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, which had previously had aquatic exhibits on its second floor of former home, moved to its own new building and consolidated its aquatic collection into the Cleveland Aquarium. The old Gordon Park trailside museum was renovated by Cleveland Aquarium Society volunteers for about $25,000. The aquarium had 50 freshwater and marine exhibits including
sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...
,
sawfish Sawfish, also known as carpenter sharks, are a family of rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. They are among the largest fish wi ...
,
seahorses A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...
,
eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
,
squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...
,
octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
, and
coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...
. It acquired a pair of
Australian lungfish The Australian lungfish (''Neoceratodus forsteri''), also known as the Queensland lungfish, Burnett salmon and barramunda, is the only surviving member of the family Neoceratodontidae. It is one of only six extant lungfish species in the world. ...
in 1966 and a school of red-bellied
piranha A piranha or piraña (, , or ; or , ) is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, ...
s in 1970. Under the Natural History Museum's direction, the aquarium often drew more visitors than the building could handle. A $300,000 gift from the Leonard C. Hanna Foundation financed the construction of a new octagonal wing in 1967 that tripled the aquarium's size and increased its tank capacity from . Despite annual deficits experienced during the decade, a city council override of a mayoral veto to increase the admission charges and keep aquarium operations with the museum was performed in 1979. Structural problems with the building forced the closing of the aquarium to the public in June 1985. The former aquarium site then became a police dog training facility for the City of Cleveland. On April 1, 1986, fish and exhibits were moved to the
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo aka Cleveland Zoological Park is a zoo in Cleveland, Ohio. The Zoo is divided into several areas: Australian Adventure; African Savanna; Northern Wilderness Trek, The Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building, Waterfowl Lake ...
, where they remain today in the Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building.


A New Aquarium in Cleveland

A new aquarium was conceived in 2009. It was originally envisioned as a more ambitious facility that would cost more than $50 million. However, planning of various forms occurred since the defunct Cleveland Aquarium closed in 1985. Although there were competing interests, the driving force behind the project was Jeffrey Jacobs, a local developer who envisioned it as being part of the Powerhouse, a complex he owned. The eventual facility was a collaboration. It was financed by a $2 million loan from the City of Cleveland, a $1.25 million investment from Marinescape, and an $11.75 million investment from the Nautica Phase 2 Limited Partnership, an affiliate of
Jacobs Entertainment Jacobs Entertainment, Inc. is a Gaming, Hospitality, and Entertainment company based in Golden, Colorado. History The company was formed by Cleveland real estate developer and former Ohio state representative Jeffrey Jacobs. In 1995, it announ ...
. The facility also supported by FirstEnergy and AMPCO, the parking lot operator for the Nautica Complex. A
ribbon-cutting ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.
was held for the aquarium January 19, 2012, with the aquarium opening to the general public on January 21. Jacobs Entertainment purchased the aquarium outright in 2014.


Facility

The total cost of the facility was roughly $33 million: $18 million for the building and its related infrastructure and $15 million for aquarium exhibits. At the January 2012 opening, the aquarium 8 exhibition areas, including Ohio Lakes & Rivers, Lakes & Rivers of the World, Discovery Zone, Indo-Pacific, Northern Pacific, Coastal, Coral Reef and a main Shark SeaTube. It features a tank with a acrylic shark tunnel offering panoramic views of marine life, including sharks of various species. In 2018, the Greater Cleveland Aquarium announced plans to upgrade much of its public space using internal resources and many upcycled materials. In addition to upgrading animal life support systems, the Aquarium enhanced gallery theming, welcomed more than a dozen new species including weedy seadragons and splitfin flashlight fish, and expanded its annual passholder program. Approximately 75% of the Aquarium’s public spaces were part of the capital project. In the transformation, the Aquarium divided Lakes & Rivers of the World into two galleries—Asia & Indonesia Gallery and Tropical Forest Gallery; created an Industry & Habitat Gallery to highlight the positive (biomimicry) and negative (habitat loss, pollution) intersections of nature and industry; added relevant conservation action opportunities in each gallery; created Imagiquarium, a toddler-friendly pretend-and-playspace; and expanded its Invasive Species Hut.


Experiences

In addition to a calendar of special events including Hauntaquarium, Fin Fest and Scuba Claus, the Greater Cleveland Aquarium offer
daily interactive experiences
including aquarist talks, animal encounters, SCUBA diver underwater talks and exhibit feedings. The aquarium also offers SCUBA-certified divers the opportunity to dive in its Shark Gallery through its Shark Dive CLE program.


Conservation Activities

In 2012, Greater Cleveland Aquarium General Manager Tami Brown established a non-profit Splash Fund “to educate and encourage passion about aquatic life and participation in the conservation of fresh and saltwater habitats through sustainable human practices.” In 2019, Splash Fund Board Members include new General Manager Stephanie White, Deborah Altman, Bruce Akers, Richard Dorman, Scot Rourke and Trevor Gile. Monies raised by this nonprofit fund have been used to conduct regular community Adopt-A-Beach cleanups at Edgewater Park, provide schools with demonstrated need access to life science-based educational programs and works to encourage a more robust Northeast Ohio spotted turtle population. The Splash Fund is one of more than a dozen partners dedicated to the Saving and Protecting Ohio Turtle Diversity (SPOTD) program working to boost the native but threatened spotted turtle population in Northeast Ohio.


References


External links

* {{authority control Zoos in Ohio Culture of Cleveland Tourist attractions in Cleveland Oceanaria in the United States Museums in Cleveland Downtown Cleveland