Back in December, as St. Louis officials were pursuing plans for a riverfront stadium to attract an NFL team, a St. Louis artist posed a question in a blog post: What if we invested in a world-class aquarium instead?
The idea wasn’t new. (SLM proposed the same idea in January 2015 “because sharks and stingrays never throw interceptions.”) But the post from Autumn Wiggins, founder of the Strange Folk Festival, went viral. Soon, St. Louisans were sharing the hashtag #fishiesnotfootball to promote the idea.
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See also: Why People Want an Aquarium, Not a Football Stadium, on the St. Louis Riverfront
Today, with St. Louis months into its new post-NFL reality, the owners of Union Station announced that they will bring residents’ dreams of a top-tier aquarium in downtown to life.
The St. Louis Aquarium, as it’ll be called, will be a $45 million, 75,000-square-foot attraction housing thousands of aquatic species in one million gallons of water. Constructions starts in the fall, and the aquarium is scheduled to open in 2018.
The aquarium will stand under the shed at historic Union Station in downtown St. Louis. “We wanted to call it the Shed Aquarium, but that name’s already taken,” joked Bob O’Loughlin, owner of Union Station, at a press conference there Tuesday. The closest major aquarium to St. Louis is the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
Here are five reasons why we think St. Louis Aquarium will make a splash:
Hope you’re not afraid of sharks
St. Louis Aquarium will be home to one of the largest collections of sharks in the Midwest. A shark tank will feature the Shark Bridge, a v-shaped rope bridge that suspends visitors just inches above the 385,000-gallon shark-filled tank.
Another world-class animal attraction
The St. Louis Aquarium will be an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, like the Saint Louis Zoo and any other world-class zoo or aquarium is. The facility will employ an animal husbandry team of marine biologists and aquarists responsible for the long-term care of the animals as well as overseeing water chemistry, animal nutrition, veterinary care, education, staffing, and safety.
A boost for downtown
Officials expect one million visitors annually at St. Louis Aquarium. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said the development will bring construction jobs to downtown and prompt other investments and developments in the city’s central corridor, all while offering an “exceptional educational experience” for local families.
Brian Hall, chief marketing officer of Explore St. Louis, noted that St. Louis attracted 25 million tourists last year, “and that number is going north with this project. Tourism means jobs. That’s good for everyone in the entire region.”
O’Loughlin said he hoped the aquarium would convince visitors coming for a Cardinals game or a trip to the Gateway Arch to “stay another day.”
Open every day
The aquarium will be open 365 days per year, which means families will have a place to visit on holidays and weekends that’s not weather-restricted. The hours will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. There will also be an 8,500-square-foot events space with a shark tank featured as a backdrop for weddings and other events.
And that’s not all
The aquarium will be part of a $70 million family entertainment complex in Union station, which includes a previously announced St. Louis Wheel, a ferris wheel 200 feet high with 30 enclosed, climate-controlled gondolas that seat up to six adults each. There’s also be The Train Park, with food and beverage concessions served out of train cars and shipping containers. The Fire & Light Show at the Lake, another new development, includes fire emerging out of pods submerged in the pool with a light show projected onto the ceiling panels of the train shed.
Anything we missed? Let us know in the comments.
Contact Lindsay Toler by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
