Aquarium to reconnect to sea
Project opens area at harborfront, builds center
The New England Aquarium is undertaking a $10 million backyard improvement, removing Dumpsters, an animal autopsy area, and HVAC systems from its site overlooking Boston Harbor.
Bulldozers and backhoes continued clearing the way yesterday for a Marine Mammal Center. Crews will also build a walkway along the waterfront, expanding the Harborwalk trail. Today, city officials plan to officially break ground on the project, which aquarium president Bud Ris said has been much needed.
"The aquarium was built to revitalize the waterfront, but this area had started to look like a backyard in New Hampshire," Ris joked yesterday.
When it was built in 1969, the aquarium's design set the gold standard for other aquariums around the country because of its extensive collection of animals and the way the building efficiently maximized tank viewing.
To some, however, the outside of the building left much to be desired. A concrete, nearly windowless box of the Brutalist style, it was created by the same architects who designed the often-maligned Boston City Hall.
Now, with the completion of the Big Dig and the new Rose Kennedy Greenway's fountains near the aquarium's front door, aquarium board members decided to reestablish the institution's relationship with the water of Boston Harbor.
By next summer, aquarium visitors should be able to traverse a glass enclosed walkway with views of a 64,000-gallon tank containing northern fur seals and eventually California sea lions. The walkway will stretch along the backside of the building, offering a view of the harbor. Pools for wading among sea life also are planned. Similarly, people walking on the new segment of the Harborwalk trail will be able to glimpse through plexiglass walkways into the tanks.
Six individuals - Ris said they are board members and longtime donors who prefer not to be identified - donated $1 million each toward the project. The New Balance Foundation chipped in another $3 million toward the creation of the mammal center - one of the largest gifts ever by the charitable arm of the Boston-based athletic shoe company.
"The heart of the foundation's focus is the prevention of childhood obesity," managing trustee Anne Davis said yesterday in a statement. "The New Balance Foundation believes that this new center will help kids get moving and active by exposing them to some of the most engaging animals on the planet."
The aquarium has also raised another $12 million toward other improvements, which include renovating and cleaning the main interior tanks containing the core collection of more than 600 fish and other animals.
Vivien Li, executive director of the Boston Harbor Association, called the changes "visionary" and "much overdue." The Harborwalk is 83 percent complete and will span 47 miles of waterfront when it is done. The aquarium's waterfront had been blocked to the public by a wire fence. The new walkway, designed to look like a wooden boardwalk, will add a crucial downtown link, she said.
"This will allow the public to enjoy the aquarium 360 degrees," Li said.
The project will also allow the aquarium to entertain visitors while it closes its core tanks for maintenance next summer.
Li said the donations were key to the aquarium's success.
"That's not as glamorous as dedicating a new wing," Li said of the donations. "That's why I really admire them for doing this."
Ris said the fund-raising campaign continues, with $4 million more to raise for other projects. Fortunately, this summer the aquarium drew its largest attendance in 10 years, he said. 