City
Ripley's releases more details about Toronto Aquarium
The official groundbreaking for Toronto's new aquarium took place earlier today, which means there are finally some more details to share about the project that's already under construction at the base of the CN Tower. Expected to be finished in 2013, the $130-million attraction will receive funding from all three levels of government, including $11-million from the province of Ontario and between $8- to $12 million from the City of Toronto in the form of property tax incentives over a 12-year period. The Canada Lands company, who owns the land on which the aquarium is being built, will also kick in "more than $10 million to redevelop the John Street corridor that includes new signage and improved access which will increase and enhance the flow of pedestrian traffic from Front Street," according to a press release issued today.
Among the aquarium's many features, it'll include a 96-metre-long moving walkway through a see-through tunnel that runs below the so-called shark lagoon, which will be inhabited by sand tiger sharks but no great whites (sorry Jaws fans). Although it won't start out fully stocked, the 5.7 million litre attraction will be able to accommodate 13,500 sea creatures, or about 450 total species. Ripley's also plans to implement breeding and conservation programs for endangered species, which will include a tag and track program for sand tiger sharks.
So what you do think? Will this become a premier destination?
Highlights from today's announcement (from press release)
- The Aquarium will be one of the largest in North America, with a capacity of 5.7-million litres (1.5-million gallons)
- The main exhibition space will include a tropical reef tank, along with Great Lakes exhibits and Atlantic and Pacific habitats
- It will also feature aquatic life-support systems with special recovery basins that reclaim, clean and re-use water;
- Marine and freshwater science education and conservation programs designed to build understanding of the aquatic world
- Trained educators throughout the facility to answer questions and point out special areas of interest
- Aquarium construction is projected to create more than 600 jobs, generating an immediate economic impact of more than $50 million, $35 million of which will be labour income. In addition, during the two-year construction timeline the project is forecasted to generate more than $25 million in taxes for all three levels of government;
- When operational, the Aquarium will generate 300 to 350 jobs and have a projected annual economic impact of more than $35 million on GDP;
- During the first 20 years of operation, the Aquarium is expected to generate more than $220 million in tax revenues for all three levels of government.
- The Aquarium will be open 365-days-a-year, starting in the summer of 2013
More renderings
Main Lobby:
Shark Lagoon and tunnel:
Tropical Reef:
Exterior view on Bremner side:
Discussion
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very excited this is coming to Toronto (and not somewhere in Suburbia)
I finally know now what that construction site is all about. Hope it's gonna be done soon, about 5min walk from my home!
Ripley's graphic designers need to attend a diversity workshop.
I don't think the rendering artist meant any harm.
p.s. BlogTO: lighten up :)
-Rob Ford
As for the aquarium - I have problems with the captivity of animals like this - but, I am glad to see something at the base of the CN tower. Last time I was there it was really depressing - embarrasing for the city really - such a waste of a great location.
My thoughts exactly. It's bad right now, especially when Jays' games let out.
@Cliffs The skywalk exit south is cut off presently. You have to wind down a dangerous maze of yellow construction taped stairs via doors on the side of the walkway. It basically looks like a bomb was dropped in front of the CN Tower south and east of Rogers Centre (near Gate 6) and a fence was erected around it with blue aquarium advertising on it.
On the other hand, Ripley's Aquarium Canada? CANADA?! Yes, of course the T-Dot is in Canada, but I would like to think the City can stand up in its own right. How's about Ripley's Aquarium Toronto? The one in Tennessee is called "Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies." That's a great name - I wish ours were called that instead.
I would imagine that something like this would help teach a very large amount of people about marine life and perhaps take more of an interest in conservation. I've certainly been to other aquariums where they hand out pamphlets about which sea food species to avoid eating as they are being over-fished to the verge of extinction.
This isn't Marine Land, where the animals have to do tricks for the public's amusement, but an aquarium where they generally have a heavy education side to them.
Are they going to choose a lucky tourist from the crowd to put their head under water and get kissed by a shark?
The good news is Montreal almost sucks as bad as us, but not quite. Hooray!! We win!
So I'm certainly pro-aquarium. I'm just not necessarily pro-Ripley Aquarium. This thing will be mucho expensive ($35 min) and have none of the educational mission of the ROM or Zoo or Science Center. It is a pale, very commercial knock-off of a first-class non-profit aquarium like the Georgia Aquarium or Vancouver Aquarium or the Shedd. And while I love the downtown location vs something subruban, the base of the CN Tower is a bit tourist-trappish.
I just don't know -- an aquarium is better than no aquarium, but I don't want to see the city made to look bad. The main Toronto draw for most distant tourists remains Niagara Falls -- but do we really want to bring Clifton Street into the core?
Its just not a touristy place; not location-wise, and not history-wise. We don't have the grand buildings built on the back on colonialism, we don't have mountains, we don't have a lot of things.
what we do have is a pretty nice city, and a cool place to live. People that move here from out of town/province/country seem to like Toronto a lot, you just need to actually be here for a while to find out what is so great about it.
Vancouver may have mountains, Montreal may have whatever the hell it has, but neither of them are as bustling and teeming with life as Toronto. And if some dickhead from Croydon would rather go to Cleveland, let him. I'm sure he'll have a great time.
And this time we are going to screw with the much abused coral reefs and the not really understood marine life, for our entertainment/?/!!! (Remember the cod, folks?)
@ iSkyscraper - London and New York are also far bigger than what Toronto is, why would they want to visit when their home towns offer pretty much everything Toronto offers. That's like being surprised when people in Toronto doesn't desire to visit Ottawa.
Plants aren't meant to live in Green houses either!!
Check out Monkey World - they do amazing work saving monkeys from tourist attractions and the poor treatment that is standard.
I guess fish don't sleep.
Despite its size, Toronto has very little appeal outside the immediate 4-hr-drive region. I'm not sure a chintzy commercial aquarium will help with that problem.
Imagine the CN Tower getting a $27.25-million makeover like the statue of liberty is about to get. You'd freak over that too!!
It was an off-the-cuff observation and a joke. Next time I'll add one of these - [/funny] - for those with broken humour metres. Seriously, who would make that comment sincerely about graphic renderings?
In conclusion, I will not be including these renderings in my dissertation on post-colonial representation and aquatic amusement attractions.
So it might be ok to have the aquarium in a tourist-heavy zone. But it's still the whole Ripley thing that bothers me. Why couldn't Ontario Place used an aquarium as their new centerpiece to renew their fading park, which has easy transit and road access? They are on the water, government owned -- it would have been a superior solution. Too bad cheapo Toronto opted for the private option.
I bet the only reason anyone from New York goes to Montreal is because they speak French which makes it "exotic". I can't think of any tourist attractions in Montreal that makes it so much more appealing than Toronto.
Either way, I'm not sure I why I am debating this with you because I do agree that Toronto isn't a great tourist destination compared to other cities in the world. However, I do find it to be a great place to live.
Toronto is starkly different. Ghost town after 2am. The culture here comes from the different ethnicities (diversity). I don't see this as a liberal town. It seems extremely conservative. It's not just a Ford thing, it's the vibe you get from the people.
Toronto differs from Montreal in that it has many tall buildings, and a big city feel. And it still holds keys to Canada's past - Things many Canadians remember fondly and are disappearing in the rest of Canada. Grand train stations, baseball, big fairs (CNE), symbols of greatness (CN Tower).
In all seriousness, I have no idea why Ripley's is in the aquarium business other than to package it with their other schlock, er, attractions. Some sort of combo ticket for people coming to see Niagara Falls that gets you into their museum on Clifton St, a stay at their water-park-hotel near the falls and a visit to the Toronto Aquarium on your way back to the airport. Odd business model to my thinking, can't see them lasting as an operator more than 10 yrs.
The CN Tower location gives you direct, sheltered access to the Aquarium via Union Station and the Skywalk. People can arrive at Union via TTC, GO, or even Via and get there quickly and easily.
It's also pretty cool to hear that Ripley's said No to Ford's idea to surround the place with a parking lot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp8MkPyBE5A&;feature=player_embedded
I can attest to that, and as I've said before elsewhere, Toronto is too full of uptight white people to be as effective a party & nightclub city as Montreal is. It needs to have most of the more conservative whites die off or leave for Toronto to be like Montreal.
<b>The culture here comes from the different ethnicities (diversity).</b>
To that that I would add 'And <i>ONLY</i> from the different ethnicities-who don't even live in the main parts of Toronto anymore.'
Y'all have to live in NYC for 10 years before the novelty wears off, weekend trips don't mean sh&*. You can't speak of New York so shut up and quit comparing!!!
If you go back and read my original comment, my point was not to compare Toronto and New York as tourist destinations or places to live but simply to point out as seen from here in New York, Toronto has a high business profile but is a very weak tourist draw (short travel article in the NYTimes every four years notwithstanding, agfag). I could be giving you the LA viewpoint or the Paris viewpoint but I don't live there.
So if you have a weak set of tourist attractions, and you start a project with increasing tourism as one of its express goals, my point was that the location was ok (if perhaps a missed opportunity re: fading Ontario Place) but I have very little faith in Ripley's making this something that is a true draw. The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta was only built six years ago, in a city with no waterfront, but they did it huge (world's largest, and just expanded again), incurred no debt via corporate and private donations, run it as a non-profit, stuck it downtown and pull 2 MILLION visits a year. That's how you do it right.
This argument was used to claim that black people were better off as slaves on plantations than as free men and women.
Now, in terms of ways to make sure it stays afloat, there are 2 things I think should really be included. The first is a shark-diving experience. I'm an expat Torontonian living in the ROK now, and let me tell you, one of the BEST experiences I have had here is shark diving in the Busan Aquarium http://www.scubainkorea.com/
Much like the EdgeWalk, its a seperate experience, but if you pay for it, you get access to the entire facility. The dive is done without cages (just scuba gear), and ample basic training is provided before jumping in the actual tank with the sharks. The whole experience lasts about 3 hours (depending on how many people are in the group) with about 30 minutes spent just walking in the tank with the sharks. This would REALLY help bring in the tourists.
The other thing the Busan Aquarium has (and this, I think, is just more of a money making gimmick) is a glass-bottom boat that people can take on top of the bigger tank's waters (basically, instead of looking sideways through the glass at the fish/animals, you are looking down). Again, great way to pull in a few extra bucks and help to stay open.
I'm pleased that your mind is blown, and I hope it will encourage you to think broader.
Tens of trillions? ya sure about that.... You know, there are probably tens of trillions of Steves too! Does that justify poor treatment of Steves?
I'm hardly projecting feelings, rather pointing out that this goes against the nature of ocean creatures. Regardless, I would rather someone project "feelings" of desire for freedom onto a fish, than forcibly confine it assuming it will live a better life.
Just last month a St Louis newspaper wrote a great big article about TIFF and travelling to Toronto, saying how much they enjoy the city, and how lucky people are here..
I mean wtf, right?
Sometime in 2016, after Ripley's realizes that Toronto lacks the tourist traffic to keep this going as a cheesy tourist trap, and they realize Toronto also lacks the family incomes to keep residents coming in the dead of winter in addition to all the other museums, etc. they belong to, they will indeed give up and walk away. (It's happened before. Anyone remember Olympic Spirit?) They will hand the City of Toronto the keys, who will then, in a post-Ford era of enlightenment, turn the place over to the Toronto Zoo to run as a satellite campus.
This is exactly how things work in New York where the Bronx Zoo (which is almost exactly identical to the Toronto Zoo in every way) runs the tiny but much more central and touristy Central Park Zoo along with the Coney Island Aquarium, Queens Zoo and Brooklyn Zoo. What this does is let them charge high prices because of the value argument where you get multiple zoos with your membership/ticket.
Think about it - the Aquarium taps the tourist dollars that the main Toronto Zoo is far too distant to catch, serves as a big downtown ad for the zoo, and adds value to that decision about whether to cough up $150 or so for a family membership. The juicy belt of residents that lies on the fringe of old Toronto and the boroughs is just as likely to hop on the TTC to go to the Aquarium as to hop in a car and drive to Scarborough, and you figure a couple aquarium trips and a couple zoo trips a year and you get your money's worth.
It would be, in the end, the ideal outcome for this situation. Thanks for the free aquarium Ripley's, and I look forward to it becoming the saving grace of the real nonprofit educational animal conservation society in this town.
I think they are, I understand the confusions though since they are primarily a food. We are always told not to play with food.
The article is a bit misleading.
I went to the Shedd Acq. in Chicago a few months ago. That place was huge. It has 5mil gallons of water, whereas the one here will only have 1.5mil. I don't know how that can be "one of the largest in North America"
looking forward to seeing it.
Eva
You must also remember most species will be preyed upon in nature, by keeping the predators fed in the aquarium think of it not as a prison but more like a luxury resort(If luxury resorts also had medical care)... :)
What is the torment you think these fish are going through...?
Everything humans do goes against nature... you can't change that not here not like this.
If you really think it is that bad, think of it like this... They are taking one for the team, like the soldiers that fight for us, they are fighting for the other fishes. They should be honored to live in an aquarium for the freedom of there fellow brothers and sisters. And I rather live on a island with all my needs taken care of than go to war... How about you.
I,ll see you at the aquarium so we can get more educated on them before we decide...
on the main point about aquarium!
1) dark skinned people are difficult to see in low light / dimmed light situations.
2) it is a known fact that like dogs, marine life becomes agitated by dark skinned people. Sharks become aggressive and knock themselves against the glass, which causes harm to the fish.
3) pyschologists in marine life behaviour acknowledge that marine animals are sensitive creatures. Studies indicated that rap music and hip hop was a factor for mass whale beaching / whale suicide. These intelligent mamals simply could no longer tolerate the sound of jz's voice.
Thus, it is good pr on the part of the art department to not remind the marine life or the public of this cultural genocide inflicted on the whales and dolphins.
4) the art department thought it wise to not depict cleaners, and security guards in the computer model design. Hence, people of african, indian, and srilankan race were not included.
Would you have said the same thing if you lived here before the ROM was built? What about the AGO? Or the zoo?
Aquariums provide a safe place for animals as well as a high educational value for people of all ages. Most aquariums also have rehabilitation centres for sick and injured animals that are found in the wild. The ocean is being obliterated, how can you POSSIBLY say that a place where these animals are safe from harm (mostly due to humans) is a bad thing? Beana, there's being supportive of animals, and what you're doing. You're being totally irrational. Have you actually been to a real aquarium? Marineland doesn't count. Animals that are not being rehabilitated have TONS of room. And they don't process space like we do.
Personally I can't wait for this to be built and will frequently visit.
Don't wait for the aquarium to be built, go to http://www.projectaware.org and find out what you can do right now.
When we go to the Bass Pro Shop in (wherever it is - Vaughan? near Wonderland, anyway) I park myself in front of their fish tank (freshwater, native Ontario species, HUGE) while my husband goes and does whatever it is he does in the store. An hour goes by, while I edge my way closer to the glass and glare at kids jumping on the rocks (what's with parents these days? oh wait - they're as fascinated as I am) and then once I get up there, I'm just mesmerized. It's hard to leave when the time comes.
I have a small reef tank - only 20 gallons - and it is a time-sucker between caring for the couple of dozen different corals I have, the snails, shrimp and a few brilliantly-coloured fish but I LOVE it. I take all this time to make sure the environment is as perfect as possible and I feel the loss of even a tiny fragment of any of my corals, let alone the fish. (And I have only captive-propagated species, for those ready to criticize.) Many of the people who work at large facilities are like that: the best ones are fanatics about the living creatures in their care.
Wouldn't it be great if Ken Thomson (or some other mega-billionaire) would pay for running something like this? But it's not gonna happen so we have to accept that it'll be for-profit. We can only hope it has enough attendance to keep it going. Time will tell.
There's a new aquarium opening in Rome in June this year, and we plan to visit there when we're in Italy in October. And you can bet I'll be visiting Toronto's aquarium as soon as it's open.
To the aquarium haters.....do you really think one aquarium is going to adversely affect the marine biology. Get a life. If anything it will bring awareness to it.
I'm sick of this politically correct BS which is destroying this country. People get a life.
An aquarium is badly needed and a great addition for Toronto!
http://www.ripleyaquariums.com/gatlinburg/
*Subway lines that are running until at least 2am, doesn't close at 12 midnight
*Streetcar and bus lines that operate 24-7/365-not all, but at least a decent amount in the downtown/suburban core (only New York and Madrid have subways that operate 24-7/365-the Paris subway shuts down at 12 midnight, as does the Montreal subway and the London Underground also shuts down at 1am.)
When Montreal has that, THEN you can boast about it, and say that it's a better city than Toronto. Until then...
Stop being so emo.