Since the early 2000s, an aquarium has been on and off of the master plan for the Kansas City Zoo. Then in 2013, after the Zoo’s penguin exhibit opened, plans for an aquarium resurfaced and were finally put into motion.
Today, a 650,000-gallon aquarium is currently under construction at the Zoo, with an opening scheduled for fall 2023.
Sean Putney, executive director/CEO, Kansas City Zoo; Steve Salzer, principal, El Dorado, Inc.; and Robert Lee, project manager, JE Dunn Construction, shared details about the project last week at a breakfast event hosted by the Kansas City chapter of DBIA-MAR.
After considering seven different locations, Putney said the decision was made to locate the aquarium “smack dab in the middle” of the Zoo near Helzberg Penguin Plaza, a valley into which approximately 130 acres drains.
Site work included the installation of 460 linear feet of 72-inch storm line located just south of the facility to prevent flooding. Footing and foundation work began in June 2021; the concrete structure was completed in early summer 2022, the steel structure was completed in August, framing is underway, and the roof is complete.
Putney said the aquarium, with the overall theme of “One Blue World,” will bring the ocean to Kansas City. The exhibits are built around the idea of currents. Each exhibit is designed with theming that will be completed utilizing shotcrete rockwork or prefabricated rockwork, coral and artificial plants.
Upon entering the aquarium, visitors will be able to see the water, smell it and hear it, said Putney.
The aquarium will feature six habitats or zones starting with a warm coastline in Zone 1, descending to warm shallow waters in Zone 2, submersing to a warm open reef in Zone 3, descending further to a warm and cold open ocean in Zone 4, ascending to cold shallow water in Zone 5 and emerging at the cold coastline in Zone 6.
Salzer said as visitors physically descend into the zones, the lighting gets continually darker and the temperatures become cooler to recreate the depths of the ocean. As visitors ascend into the colder shallows, light comes back in.
“If you know aquariums well . . . they’re material resource intensive buildings. They have a high need for energy and use a lot of resources, so being very efficient about how the building is designed can offset some of that,” said Salzer.
The project has high sustainability goals. Stormwater is captured onsite. Salzer said the team is targeting energy reduction by catching waste heat and using natural light whenever able. Life support systems will be positioned so that the water will be pumped around the facility the fewest amount of times possible.
“We’ll be doing everything we can as far as conservation goes with water,” said Putney.
Salzer said part of the challenge of the aquarium is the conservation message.
“How do we connect people in Kansas City who may never see the ocean, who may never experience some of these animals to the aquatic world and care about it? Why should someone in Kansas City want to be concerned about water falling and knowing that eventually, every drop of water that falls here ends up in the ocean,” said Salzer.
Salzer said they are using CarbonCure technology to reduce the carbon footprint created by a large amount of concrete required to construct the facility.
“By the time we’re complete with the project, we’ll have over 7,000 cubic yards of concrete,” said Lee.
Lee said the three-and-one-half-story building will contain 1.6 million pounds of rebar —more rebar than in the 24-floor Two Light tower.
The aquarium will feature eight large-scale, cast-in-place concrete tanks. The remaining 26 tanks will be fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) or acrylic cylinder exhibit tanks. Lee said there are just a few more acrylic panels to set before the tanks can be hydro-tested to see if they hold water.
Putney said he expects to start filling the tanks in January and bringing in the animals in March.
“And then from there, just shipment after shipment. They go through quarantine. Once they come out of quarantine, you have to acclimate them to the tank. The next shipment comes in and they take those quarantine spots,” said Putney.
Visitors to the aquarium will see a variety of fish and aquatic animals, including sea otters, sea turtles and moray eels. Putney said the biggest animals on exhibit likely will be sand tiger sharks which can grow to be approximately 10 feet long.
Putney said it was important that there be an interactive area at the aquarium. There will be at least two touch tanks.
“[O]ur last animal exhibit is a touch tank from the Pacific Coast. This water is about 55 degrees; the previous touch tank was 80 degrees. I’m pretty sure I’m going to perch myself right near when we open to see the reaction of the first kids to put their hands in 55-degree water,” said Putney.
The aquarium will be fully accessible.
“We have a couple of different places where people who have wheelchairs will be able to get that same experience as anybody else. We’ve specifically designed this aquarium with people with handicaps in mind, people with strollers or wagons in mind, they get the same view,” Putney said.
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Feature image: Pacific Reef rendering credit: El Dorado, Inc.