Remodel Entry, Great Hall & Café
A visitor’s experience - from the parking lot to admissions, and through to the first exhibit - should be a crescendo of nature. The Aquarium will re-landscape the pathway leading up to its entrance, accelerate admissions with a new ticketing annex, remodel the café referencing Newport’s sustainable fisheries and history, add a new exhibit with graceful Moon Jellies, and remodel the Great Hall to expand its seating capacity and multiplicity to accommodate various large groups.
The bank of windows on the southwest end of the Great Hall will be replaced by doors to afford greater accessibility and bring the outside in. From the new doorway, visitors will be able to view the estuary through a clearing in the forest, a new Children’s Nature Play area, outdoor seating, and a new outdoor Headwaters feature all at once.
MJ Murdock Trust, Ray Hickey Foundation, Robert Miller Family Holdings, Ann & Bill Swindells Trust, Oregon Community Foundation and the Sunderland Foundation are among the many donors taking the lead to launch this first phase of our capital improvement plans.
Consider making a gift of any size to help us complete phase one.