Your Province
Parks board OKs $80m expansion of the aquarium into old zoo land
Extra 1.5 acres of Stanley Park will become home to new facilities by 2010
David Carrigg, The Province
Published: Tuesday, November 28, 2006
The Vancouver Aquarium's multimillion-dollar expansion got the go-ahead last night.
"It's been a long time coming," said an elated John Nightingale, aquarium president.
"In politics you're never 100 per cent certain but we're grateful they listened to overwhelming public support."
The aquarium needed permission from the Vancouver parks board to take up an extra 1.5 acres of Stanley Park and spend $80 million building new galleries, meeting rooms, a larger gift shop and a new restaurant.
The expansion also includes new pools for dolphins and belugas on land currently occupied by the park's abandoned zoo displays.
Despite the cold weather, last night's parks board meeting at the Hastings Community Centre was packed.
Critics of the expansion plan believe it is cruel to keep dolphins in captivity and were upset the parks board earlier this year decided not to hold a promised referendum on whether Vancouverites support the aquarium.
"They rescinded the referendum, then made a highly irregular decision to have the [aquarium] conduct public consultation," said Patrick Tohill of the World Society for the Protection of Animals.
That public consultation process found most people in the Lower Mainland supported the aquarium's expansion.
The expansion was supported last night by the Vancouver Board of Trade and Tourism Vancouver, as well as several aquarium staff and volunteers.
The board voted 5-1 in favour of the expansion, with chairwoman Heather Holden not voting because she is a senior aquarium employee.
Nightingale said the aquarium now has to come up with the money to expand.
"The funds will have to come from a combination of government, community and corporate sources," he said.
Annelisa Sorge of No Whales in Captivity said her group knew there was no way "corporate Vancouver" would allow the expansion proposal to be rejected.
She said her group will protest when the aquarium starts bringing in animals for the new pools.
The aquarium currently has four belugas and four Pacific white-sided dolphins.
Nightingale said the aquarium would like to double the number of belugas and dolphins it has in captivity.
The expansion will begin next spring and be complete by 2010.