Improve Three Indoor Galleries
The first gallery starts the narrative where Man meets marine. We will upgrade or replace some exhibits and life support, reinterpret marine life, change signage and incorporate interactive digital platforms. Entry will begin by crossing over a watershed pond into the building that houses the first gallery and changing exhibit space. A theater will be modified to better accommodate temporary exhibits, which change every other year to entice return visitation.
The second gallery will be expanded to accommodate a larger, more accessible touch pool, along with a giant Pacific octopus exhibit, and other updated exhibits.
The third gallery is seeing the greatest transformation, themed on the Pacific Rim. In 2020, a former Oregon kelp exhibit was transformed into a tropical Indo-Pacific coral reef exhibit. Additional exhibits in this gallery will feature sea horses, cylindrical carousel with seamount from Central America, and a Mangrove exhibit.
Connected Coasts Gallery Support Fund
With the arrival of fall, renovations are getting underway inside the Aquarium’s galleries to improve traffic flow, upgrade exhibits, incorporate digital platforms, and install new interpretive signage in both English and Spanish.
The Connected Coasts gallery (formerly called Coastal Waters) will see the greatest transformation. By illuminating different underwater environments with an amazing diversity of life, Connected Coasts will afford 465,000 annual visitors an underwater view of how the Pacific Ocean connects us all through Earth’s “one ocean.”
The mesmerizing dance of sea jellies has long been a favorite among our visitors. The translucent creatures float peacefully to their own rhythm, soothing viewers of all ages. A former corridor will be converted into a gallery of kreisels illuminating sea nettles and graceful jellies.
Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund, James & Shirley Rippey Foundation, Al Gleason, Clark Foundation, John & Nancy Dennis Estate, Travel Oregon, and hundreds of volunteers and individual donors have donated.
Indoor construction begins Fall 2023. For the latest updates, visit our construction progress page.