The Living Planet Aquarium: Future Directions
Many people have expressed an interest in The Living Planet Aquarium and, more specifically, our future plans. We are excited for the opportunity to share our vision. The board of directors, managers and employees at The Living Planet Aquarium share the same goal: We want to see the aquarium grow! To do this, our immediate plans are to expand within our current location in Sandy.
We accomplished this goal in May, 2008 with the opening of our newest exhibit, "Life on the Reef." This exhibit features marine life found in Indo-Pacific tropical waters, a fascinating and diverse region of the world. A 1,000 gallon tank is surrounded by four jewel tanks to focus on key relationships found in nature and the "teamwork" that often facilitates survival in the Ocean.
Plans are actively underway for an even more dramatic expansion, to be completed in early 2009, that includes an aquatic-themed rainforest exhibit called "Journey to South America." Visitors will enjoy the vivid sights, sounds and intriguing animals, such as giant anacondas, piranhas, poison arrow frogs and other Amazon giants, found in the South American Rainforests. The exhibit will also educate guests about the biodiversity of rainforest ecosystems, the benefits rainforests provide us and how we can all help protect these amazing habitats!
Both our current and new exhibits capture the essence of our mission to celebrate life on Earth by fostering a greater awareness and knowledge of Earth's diverse ecosystems. In Utah, there is an enormous focus on providing children a sound education, not the least of which is environmental education. We believe that children are the future custodians of the environment. They cannot be expected to meet this challenge without the necessary expertise; yet the majority of our young people have never come into contact with the ocean, nor had the opportunity to understand their own water-dependent environment.
Looking forward, we still hold a vision for the future that includes a large aquarium for the people of Utah. However, we are committed to growing in a fiscally responsible manner; that means that a large aquarium is still a few years away. The final site and funding mechanisms still need to be determined, a process we are in now. To make our vision of a large aquarium a reality, funding will need to be supplied by a supportive community: the public, private individuals, and interested organizations and companies. Our current aquarium is self-sustaining, and we are dedicated to ensuring that a larger version of The Living Planet Aquarium will also support itself through gate receipts, gift shop and café sales, and facility rentals. You can help by making a donation to The Living Planet Aquarium and telling your friends and family to visit us soon!
We love being Utah's aquarium and our numbers reflect it: We have more than 600 animals from 150 different species, our education programs reach over 50,000 Utah school children a year, over 750,000 people have visited us since we opened in 2004 and we are headed for ~250,000+ visitors this year!
For the time being, our short-term focus, passion and energies will be directed at making The Living Planet Aquarium an even more appealing place for Utah families. We are truly grateful for your continued support!