Boston's swimming with the small fish
Age, wear showing at N.E. Aquarium
The guidebooks say "wonderful," "fascinating," "one of the world's top collections of marine life."
But those assessments of the New England Aquarium are old, and these days some visitors have different things to say about an attraction once considered a premier showcase of Boston's connection to the sea.
"I was taken aback by the small size," said Liz Laing of Toronto.
"I give it a B-minus," said Jacob Burney of Denver.
As even landlocked cities around the country build or revitalize aquariums with dazzling attractions and megatanks displaying hundreds of species, Boston's aquarium, at the ocean harbor's edge, has fallen into disrepair and out of date. The annual number of visitors is about the same as in 1991, and displays in the dark exhibition halls are lately plagued with troubles, from burned-out light bulbs to murky glass on the centerpiece tank.
New England Aquarium officials say they are launching plans for more than $14 million in repairs and improvements in coming years but, that aside, they aim for loftier, more scientific goals than the newer aquariums in other parts of the country. What their facility lacks in glitz and huge exhibits, they said, it makes up for in scientific, educational, and conservation programs. Even with its relatively modest size, the aquarium garners high marks in customer satisfaction surveys, officials said.
"Scale and age aside, I like to think what sets us apart is our primary focus on educating people about the oceans," said Bud Ris, the aquarium president. "The New England Aquarium is not just a tourist attraction, but something much, much broader."
Still, even the proposed improvements pale next to extravagant aquariums recently constructed or renovated elsewhere, spurred by a thirst for tourist dollars and a new interest in marine life.
In Atlanta, which has the largest and one of the newest aquariums in the world, a 6.3 million gallon tank has hammerhead sharks, stingrays, and three whale sharks imported from Taiwan. The aquarium also has four Beluga whales, Japanese spider crabs, and a 350-seat food court that sells pasta, tiramisu, and imported wines.
The Adventure Aquarium in Camden, N.J., opened two years ago with a 760,000-gallon tank filled with ocean animals and a 550,000-gallon shark tank. The National Aquarium in Baltimore added a 64,000-square-foot display that re-creates river gorges found in Australia's Northern Territories.
A trip to the New England Aquarium on a recent day showed school groups and a smattering of tourists ascending the spiral ramp that encircles the main cylindrical tank -- the largest in the world when the aquarium opened in 1969, but now dwarfed by a host of urban aquariums. The main tank at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, 350 miles from the nearest coast, is three times the size of Boston's.
At some displays at the New England Aquarium, the recorded voice narration was muddled and hard to hear. Information in some cases appeared to have been typed and printed from a computer and slipped into a frame. At one display, the information appeared to be printed on the back side of an already-used sheet of paper.
The experience left some visitors wanting more. Burney, the tourist from Denver, was disappointed by how small the aquarium was -- and by the $17.95 entrance fee.
"I also thought they'd have more salt water, being that they're on the harbor," he said.
When the New England Aquarium was completed, it was hailed internationally as a major accomplishment. It spurred a revitalization of the waterfront and provided a prestigious symbol of the city's strong ties to the ocean. Other cities began to copy Boston, sparking what came to be known as the "age of aquariums."
In recent years, however, the New England Aquarium has endured rocky times. An expansion phase starting in the late '90s brought a new wing with a jellyfish exhibit and cafeteria. An
Now under new leadership, the aquarium is in the black again and has regained its accreditation. Having restored fiscal health in 2005, four aquarium vice presidents received pay increases ranging from 6.5 percent to 36.2 percent, for an average salary of $154,875, according to the most recent federal tax forms filed by the nonprofit. The largest pay increase went to Walter J. Flaherty, who served as interim president for nine months that year and received $222,577, according to the filings and aquarium officials.
Other employees were given raises to market levels after agreeing to 3 percent pay cuts the previous year, the officials said. "The organization feels financially more healthy again," Ris said.
But as the new leaders discussed the facility's future, they quickly dismissed a major expansion or moving to a new location for a revamped facility, saying that Boston cannot provide the droves of paying customers that have helped finance expansions in other cities.
A major expansion of the existing facility, in a congested part of the city, would be difficult and expensive, the officials say.
"Would we all love to have the largest tank in the world? Sure," said Ris. "But could we justify spending a $250 million investment? I'm not so sure."
Improvements in coming years are to include a $6 million marine mammal exhibit overlooking the harbor, better signage in the exhibit halls, and renovation of the central tank, at a cost estimated up to $13 million.
Ris and others said Boston's aquarium has priorities that differ from those at aquariums in other cities, devoting resources to scientific, conservation, and animal rescue programs.
The New England Aquarium is known nationwide for its research and its work in rescuing sea turtles that get stranded on Cape Cod. The aquarium was featured in a 2005 PBS documentary on "four leading US aquariums."
Aquarium officials concede that improvements are needed, but they insist that they don't see themselves as competing with larger aquariums.
"We're smaller, for sure," Ris said. "But I think we have an exciting way to do things that can have quite a strong impact and be quite a good attraction for the city that works just fine."
Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. 
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
