Incredible. Awesome. Beautiful. Fantastic. Amazing. Gorgeous. Phenomenal. Breathtaking. Spectacular. Stunning. Unbelievable.
Once visitors managed to pick their jaws up off the floor, the superlatives started flying at the Toledo Zoo’s aquarium at its grand reopening Friday morning. A quick cut through a ribbon of paper fish with a pair of oversize scissors shaped like a shark “o-fish-ally” reopened the attraction.
The historic building erected by the Works Progress Administration originally opened in 1939. The exterior was preserved, but the interior has undergone a complete overhaul since it was closed in October, 2012. It opened Friday with more than 3,000 aquatic creatures in 178,000 gallons of water.
PHOTO GALLERY: Click here for more photos from the grand reopening
“The return of this historic aquarium, which is more beautiful than ever, helps ensure that this zoo will continue to be a place where families gather for another 100 years,” Lucas County Commissioner Carol Contrada said in her remarks before the ribbon-cutting.
She called the aquarium an “incredible dividend” to the community’s investment in the zoo. The $25.5 million project was funded 80 percent by a 2006 capital levy, and 20 percent by donations.
“I’ve been to aquariums in Cincinnati and other cities, but this jewel we have in Toledo you’re about to see stands tall and equal to all of them,” Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson said.
Several hundred visitors who had braved the bitter cold flooded inside quickly.
“I’m in awe,” Emily Cherry of Toledo said. “I really, really, really love my zoo.”
Mrs. Cherry, her husband, Bill, and 3-year-old son Alex visited the aquarium with Veronica Schultz of Swanton and Stephen Zalesak of Curtice, Ohio.
“It’s incredible. I love everything,” Mr. Cherry said, noting the wall of historic photos in the Rotunda Gallery. “I love this wall, being able to show all the work that went into this. So many people don’t realize how much work went into the original building, much less what’s been done now. It’s astounding.”
Alex was enamored with a golden puffer fish in the aquarium’s largest tank, a 90,000-gallon Pacific Reef exhibit.
“I like the blowfishy,” he said.
Just as often heard around the aquarium Friday were squeals of delight and exclamations to various deities and divine bovines.
“Lots of ‘oohs, ahs, wows, whoas,’” Jeff Sailer, executive director at the zoo, said. “I couldn’t be more excited.”
Visitors immediately dipped their fingers in the two new touch tanks to interact with sharks, rays, sea stars, crabs, and other animals. The LED lights inside the moon jelly tank flashed different colors as visitors changed it to highlight the translucent creatures.
Three young LaVrar sisters from Columbus — Audrey, 11, Keira, 9, and Sydney, 6 — wasted no time lining up to take a photo with a diver inside the reef tank who had turned himself upside-down for their enjoyment. In the future, the divers will use a special face mask that allows them to talk directly to visitors outside the tank.
“I like the sharks,” declared 6-year-old Gavin Reno of Defiance, referring to the Gulf of Mexico exhibit that is the second-largest tank at more than 27,000 gallons.
Along with the reef tank and the touch tanks, the Gulf tank seemed to be one of the most popular. Numerous people took selfie photos with Tink the rescued green sea turtle, majestic spotted eagle rays, and bonnethead sharks.
“Seeing the people is really, really gratifying,” Jay Hemdal, aquarium curator, said.
While it may finally be open, the work at the aquarium is far from over. The zoo is continuing to acquire additional creatures for the exhibits and will be tweaking various things such as graphics and programming for months to come.
“All that fine tuning, that’s going to go on for the next year,” Mr. Hemdal said. “There’s still a lot of work to do. We’re going to make this aquarium better and better every day.”
When crowds are large enough, there will be a line to get into the aquarium throughout the weekend. Zoo staff are limiting the number of people to prevent overcrowding in the building so everyone, especially children, can get close to the exhibits’ glass.
Today and Sunday only, Toledo Zoo members can visit the aquarium, Penguin Beach, and ’Keet Retreat with special early access starting at 9 a.m. All others can see it at 10 a.m. during normal hours.
The zoo has scheduled a number of special activities throughout its campus this weekend. For more information on weekend activities at the zoo, visit toledozoo.org/aquarium.
Contact Alexandra Mester: amester@theblade.com, 419-724-6066, or on Twitter @AlexMesterBlade.
First Published March 28, 2015, 4:18 a.m.
