North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores
Director’s Update
Tuesday, February 3, 2004
After years of planning, work finally began in January on
the expansion of the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll
Shores. Demolition is under way and walls are literally coming
down. Yesterday, I watched a bulldozer drive through our auditorium
and touch tank gallery area! During the two years of construction,
the Aquarium will operate out of temporary quarters at Atlantic
Station Shopping Center in Atlantic Beach.
Though the aquarium’s interior walls
will be removed, the building’s overall structure will
remain intact and form the nucleus of the new aquarium. Ultimately,
the aquarium will grow from 29,000 square feet to 93,000 square
feet – three times its original size.
Before demolition, the aquarium staff worked nonstop for
three weeks to salvage tanks, exhibits, fixtures, furniture,
and other valuable items. With the help of Acme Movers and
Storage of Morehead City, office and mechanical equipment,
holding tanks and other necessary supplies and materials were
delivered to the Atlantic Station site. The remainder of the
items were transferred to a storage facility. The aquarium
will operate administratively out of Atlantic Station for
the next two years, however, the temporary site does not offer
public exhibits.
Tanks, ranging in size from 50- to 2,000-gallons, are being
set up at Atlantic Station to house aquarium animals, and
later this spring, two new, large holding tanks, each measuring
over thirty feet in length, will be added to provide room
for sharks.
The walls of the old auditorium
tumble down
Keith Flynn of Florida's Marineland
and Ben Wunderly and Stuart May of the Aquarium at Pine Knoll
Shores move quickly to capture a nurse shark. Mr. Flynn took
the shark and a number of other specimens for display at Florida's
popular park.
Over the next two years, the staff will be busy collecting
hundreds of animals for the new aquarium, and our Atlantic
Station holding area will be filled with a wide variety of
creatures.
The giant alligator in the aquarium's "Precious
Waters" exhibit was a favorite "photo op"
spot. The stuffed reptile has new digs these days at the
recently expanded aquarium at Fort Fisher near Wilmington.
It was all hands on deck when it came to
moving exhibit tanks. Even emptied of water, gravel and
sand, it took much manpower to hoist thetanks onto carts
for transport to trucks and on to Atlantic Station site.
Because space at the Atlantic Station site was not complete
in time to handle large numbers of specimens prior to the
move, most of the animals in the aquarium’s collection
were transferred to other facilities. Many went to our sister
aquariums at Fort Fisher and Roanoke Island, and many others
were sent to facilities such as the Catawba Science Center,
the Virginia Living Museum, Marineland of Florida, the National
Marine Fisheries Service in Beaufort, and Duke University
Marine Laboratory.
Most of the snakes, alligators and turtles were transferred
to the Atlantic Station site. Some of the animals sent away
may eventually be returned, but most will be displayed by
these cooperative facilities and will be traded for “future
draft choices.”
Another task that began before demolition was the salvage
of exhibit components and building fixtures that could not
be used at the Atlantic Station site or in the newly expanded
aquarium. Many of these items were transferred to our sister
Aquariums; other items went to local museums and nonprofit
organizations, including the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and
The History Place in Morehead City.
Plants and shrubs surrounding the Aquarium
(that would have been destroyed during the demolition and
grounds preparation process) were offered to the Pine Knoll
Shores Garden Club and to the Town of Pine Knoll Shores for
beautification projects. Lastly, in an effort to minimize
waste and recycle building materials, the Carteret County
chapter of Habitat for Humanity was invited to remove items
from the facility that will not be reused in the expansion
project, such as ceiling tiles, flooring, light fixtures,
and other materials that could be used to benefit local Habitat
projects. This was a win-win opportunity for the Aquarium
and for Habitat, as these useful items were kept out of the
Carteret County landfill.
Now that the move is complete, the aquarium staff will focus
on finalizing holding tank arrangements, collecting specimens,
offering limited educational field trips and outreach programs,
and developing more detailed plans for use of the new expanded
aquarium. Meanwhile, the construction contractors will be
busy clearing and grading the aquarium site, completing demolition,
and starting to lay the concrete footings for new portions
of the building. With all the work under way on the aquarium
property, the site is now off-limits to visitors, joggers,
bikers, and sight-seers. The aquarium’s two nature trails
will also remain closed until the project is completed in
spring 2006.
I will continue to keep you updated on our progress. Check
back often for the latest news!
Sincerely,
Jay Barnes
Director, North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores
