What City or Zoo Needs an Aquarium?

[ZooArchitect]

I am a current architecture student and I am proposing a thesis project for an aquarium. I have been looking for established zoos or cities that may not have an aquarium, but could support one or may already have one that needs to be reimagined. Smaller or larger zoos and cities anywhere in the world are on the table!

Thanks!

 

[Dassie rat]

ZSL London Zoo

 

[Kalaw]

Beauval is a very complete zoo, but has a mediocre fish collection, and certainly has the budget to pull of something spectacular for aquatic species.

 

[RatioTile]

To my knowledge, Puerto Rico no longer has any zoos or aquariums. Some Pacific Islands might be like that as well.

 

[Wisp O' Mist]

I am a current architecture student and I am proposing a thesis project for an aquarium. I have been looking for established zoos or cities that may not have an aquarium, but could support one or may already have one that needs to be reimagined. Smaller or larger zoos and cities anywhere in the world are on the table!

Thanks!

Cheyenne, Wyoming?

Biggest city in a state that doesn't seem to have any zoological facilities.

 

[Jurek7]

The whole German-speaking area (DACH, Germany, Austria and Switzerland) is poor in aquaria. There are mid-sized ones in Stralsund and Lausanne, but otherwise it is mostly the SeaLife chain and any big German city could get a free-standing aquarium. There has been talks about a new free-standing aquarium in Berlin for 20 years at last, but nothing came out of it.

Further east, there has been talks about new aquaria in Warsaw and Gdansk, but both were cancelled indefinitely.

 

[elefante]

Cheyenne, Wyoming?

Biggest city in a state that doesn't seem to have any zoological facilities.

Considering that North Dakota has four and we're the least visited state in the country it is very strange. There are three zoos within a less than four hour drive so maybe that's why.

 

[Wisp O' Mist]

Considering that North Dakota has four and we're the least visited state in the country it is very strange. There are three zoos within a less than four hour drive so maybe that's why.

Four hours each way is still quite the drive for a day out, especially if you have kids!

Granted, a great deal of Wyoming's already sparse population appears to be situated on Cheyenne: Wyoming's most populous city and the state's capital. Denver, which provides access to three excellent zoological facilities (The Butterfly Pavilion, Denver Zoo & the Downtown Aquarium), is only about two hours away from Cheyenne.

That being said, I think Cheyenne does have a large enough population to support at least a small zoo. I mean, if Minot, ND (A city of only 48,000 people! Compare Cheyenne's population of 65,000) can justify the Roosevelt Park Zoos' existence, than there's no reason to automatically assume that Cheyenne wouldn't be able to support a zoo of it's own.

I know Wyoming's climate is quite harsh, but there are zoos who specialize in cold weather animals and they seem to do quite well for themselves. Cheyenne not having it's own zoo just seems like such a missed opportunity IMHO.

 

[elefante]

Four hours each way is still quite the drive for a day out, especially if you have kids!

Granted, a great deal of Wyoming's already sparse population appears to be situated on Cheyenne: Wyoming's most populous city and the state's capital. Denver, which provides access to three excellent zoological facilities (The Butterfly Pavilion, Denver Zoo & the Downtown Aquarium), is only about two hours away from Cheyenne.

That being said, I think Cheyenne does have a large enough population to support at least a small zoo. I mean, if Minot, ND (A city of only 48,000 people! Compare Cheyenne's population of 65,000) can justify the Roosevelt Park Zoos' existence, than there's no reason to automatically assume that Cheyenne wouldn't be able to support a zoo of it's own.

I know Wyoming's climate is quite harsh, but there are zoos who specialize in cold weather animals and they seem to do quite well for themselves. Cheyenne not having it's own zoo just seems like such a missed opportunity IMHO.

Four hours is a good long weekend destination though. I do agree though, if Minot can have a zoo Cheyenne can. They could specialize in cold weather species.

 

[15399]

Cheyenne, Wyoming?

Biggest city in a state that doesn't seem to have any zoological facilities.

Four hours each way is still quite the drive for a day out, especially if you have kids!

Granted, a great deal of Wyoming's already sparse population appears to be situated on Cheyenne: Wyoming's most populous city and the state's capital. Denver, which provides access to three excellent zoological facilities (The Butterfly Pavilion, Denver Zoo & the Downtown Aquarium), is only about two hours away from Cheyenne.

That being said, I think Cheyenne does have a large enough population to support at least a small zoo. I mean, if Minot, ND (A city of only 48,000 people! Compare Cheyenne's population of 65,000) can justify the Roosevelt Park Zoos' existence, than there's no reason to automatically assume that Cheyenne wouldn't be able to support a zoo of it's own.

I know Wyoming's climate is quite harsh, but there are zoos who specialize in cold weather animals and they seem to do quite well for themselves. Cheyenne not having it's own zoo just seems like such a missed opportunity IMHO.

I suppose one argument could be what is the need to see animals in a zoo when you have Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park, meaning there are a lot more opportunities to see megafauna wildlife (including species like bison) in Wyoming than in many other parts of the country. Cheyenne itself is only 1.5 hours from Denver, so that zoo is likely the closest to them (and a very sizeable facility), while residents in other parts of the state would be closer to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center (directly across the Montana border).

I don't know much about the people of Wyoming, but I know in a lot of places the cultural attitudes and perceptions of animals in captivity can be a big determining factor as to if a zoo (or what kind of a zoo) would be something there is desire for (it's why Vermont, for instance, doesn't have any zoos), so that might be something to look into when considering why Wyoming is or isn't a good candidate for a zoo.

 

[elefante]

I suppose one argument could be what is the need to see animals in a zoo when you have Yellowstone National Park and Grand Tetons National Park, meaning there are a lot more opportunities to see megafauna wildlife (including species like bison) in Wyoming than in many other parts of the country. Cheyenne itself is only 1.5 hours from Denver, so that zoo is likely the closest to them (and a very sizeable facility), while residents in other parts of the state would be closer to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center (directly across the Montana border).

I don't know much about the people of Wyoming, but I know in a lot of places the cultural attitudes and perceptions of animals in captivity can be a big determining factor as to if a zoo (or what kind of a zoo) would be something there is desire for (it's why Vermont, for instance, doesn't have any zoos), so that might be something to look into when considering why Wyoming is or isn't a good candidate for a zoo.

They're definitely not animal rights activists there.

 

[Wisp O' Mist]

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is seven hours away from Cheyenne.

Grand Tetons National Park

Grand Teton National Park is six and a half hours away from Cheyenne.

Cheyenne itself is only 1.5 hours from Denver

It's two hours, actually.

Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center is over nine hours away from Cheyenne.

The closest Wyoming town to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center is Wilson, WY. To get to the Center from there would take two and a half hours.

With all due respect, to ask the people of Cheyenne, Wyoming to make the trek to the northwestern corner of the state (IE: Which is literally as far away from them as a location within the same state can be) whenever they want to see charismatic megafauna is ludicrous. Were you... not aware of just how big Wyoming is before you wrote your reply? Because I'm struggling to comprehend how else you could think that spending all day just driving to the national parks is a reasonable request to ask of laypeople if they want to see cool animals.

Furthermore, by your logic, ZooMontana should close it's doors because it's "only" a two hour drive away from Yellowstone National Park... during the summer months. During the winter? Add on another 45 minutes of travel time, at least.

After all, why should the residents of Billings, MT have their own zoo when the world-renown Yellowstone National Park is practically on their doorstep? /s

I don't know much about the people of Wyoming, but I know in a lot of places the cultural attitudes and perceptions of animals in captivity can be a big determining factor as to if a zoo

I... my dude, it's a western US state. Where do you think their "cultural attitudes" and "perceptions of animals in captivity" lay????

Wyoming is conservative as hell, even more so than either of the Dakotas (Both of which have multiple zoos) or Montana (Which as previously mentioned, has one traditional zoo and one non-traditional zoo).

The average Wyomingite would sooner chase animal rights activists out of the state with torches and pitchforks than give them the time of day. Lol.

 

[TinoPup]

Ocean City, Maryland.

 

[15399]

It's two hours, actually.

Well, Google Maps told me Denver Zoo is 1 hr., 35 min. from Cheyenne. Sure, it could possibly be more in certain traffic conditions but I was just following Google Maps. Even two hours is not that unreasonable, and I am sure many spots in the US are much further than that from a zoo.

And in regards to Yellowstone, etc., all I was doing was considering possible reasons Wyoming doesn't have a zoo, as there is a complex bunch of social and economic factors at play. I'm not saying it is a bad idea, just that there are a lot of factors to consider, so there's no reason to be so defensive.

I... my dude, it's a western US state. Where do you think their "cultural attitudes" and "perceptions of animals in captivity" lay????

Wyoming is conservative as hell, even more so than either of the Dakotas (Both of which have multiple zoos) or Montana (Which as previously mentioned, has one traditional zoo and one non-traditional zoo).

The average Wyomingite would sooner chase animal rights activists out of the state with torches and pitchforks than give them the time of day. Lol

All I was saying is I don't know the cultural or economic factors affecting Wyoming. It's not simply liberal vs. conservative. If you look at major US zoos, they are in a combination of very liberal areas (e.g., Bronx, San Diego), and areas that are certainly not (e.g., Omaha, Oklahoma City). These cultural factors are major concerns for making a new cultural attraction (which includes zoos and aquariums), regardless of what the demographics are, and all I was saying is I don't know what those are for Wyoming.

 

[Great Argus]

Yellowstone National Park is seven hours away from Cheyenne.

Google maps says nine hours on the fastest route for winter - only seven when the south entrance is open, fwiw.

Because I'm struggling to comprehend how else you could think that spending all day just driving to the national parks is a reasonable request to ask of laypeople if they want to see cool animals.

And yet a surprising amount of people do it, Yellowstone sees some of the heaviest visitor footfall of all the national parks despite not being close to any major city.

I... my dude, it's a western US state. Where do you think their "cultural attitudes" and "perceptions of animals in captivity" lay????

Are California, Oregon, and Washington not considered western anymore?

 

[Wisp O' Mist]

Are California, Oregon, and Washington not considered western anymore?

Fine, it's an intermountain western state. Happy now?

 

[Great Argus]

Fine, it's an intermountain western state. Happy now?

No need to be snippy - California, Oregon and Washington are very much western, and putting them in the same boat as the mountain states becomes a bit inaccurate in several areas. Noting coastal or mountain western helps differentiate.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

If Taman Safari Bogor could sustain and maintain some bottlenose dolphins, I feel like they could handle having an saltwater aquarium.

 

[JVM]

All I was saying is I don't know the cultural or economic factors affecting Wyoming. It's not simply liberal vs. conservative. If you look at major US zoos, they are in a combination of very liberal areas (e.g., Bronx, San Diego), and areas that are certainly not (e.g., Omaha, Oklahoma City). These cultural factors are major concerns for making a new cultural attraction (which includes zoos and aquariums), regardless of what the demographics are, and all I was saying is I don't know what those are for Wyoming.

This is an excellent point. I do think political attitudes have an effect in many instances but it is much more nuanced than a state level issue -- San Diego and San Francisco are both in California, for instance, but even if we magnify it further, Oakland and San Francisco are significantly closer and have political and cultural similarities, but Oakland can support a major zoo and San Francisco can hardly support a Madagascar exhibit by itself.

 

[Aardwolf]

Ever since the closure of the National Aquarium in the early 2000s, I thought that DC could stand to have an aquarium, a need I feel even more so after the National Zoo shuttered the Invertebrate House, which had so many cool aquatic species (the coral were relocated to Amazonia, but the octopus exhibit was always a highlight on visits for me). Someone will periodically toss out an idea of building a major, new aquarium on the National Mall as a new Smithsonian museum, but it never goes anywhere.

What with the proximity to NAiB, I could imagine DC having a SeaLife aquarium somewhere downtown - no big sharks or marine mammals or penguins, just something modest, small, and interactive, an attraction on par with the other non-Smithsonian museums in town. Conversely, it could also be put in Silver Spring, MD - on the metro system, right up against the DC line, and, incidentally, headquarters to both NOAA (wouldn't it be cool if NOAA had an aquarium at their headquarters, similar to how the old DC aquarium was in the Commerce Dept building) and AZA. It would still be an hour drive from Baltimore, too close perhaps for two mega aquariums, but it would be a situation not unlike SeaLife Arizona and OdySea, or SeaLife Kansas City and the new aquarium at the Kansas City Zoo.