The Vancouver Aquarium is set to get a facelift, but the expansion will be slightly less grand than originally planned.
Vancouver Park Board commissioners voted Monday to approve a $100-million expansion to be spread over the next eight years.
"Where you can stand is 58,000 square feet. That's going to 100,000 square feet. That's a pretty big expansion," Aquarium President John Nightingale said.
The new plans represent a scaled-down, cheaper version of a proposal approved by the park board in 2007, reducing the size of the expansion by 12,500 square feet and increasing green space by 15,230 square feet.
"Thanks to the two-year delay, while we waited for funding we had a chance to rethink a lot of things, and in part in response to requests from government to chop it up into smaller, bite-size pieces, we were able to do that," Nightingale said.
The aquarium hasn't seen such a significant expansion since it opened 55 years ago. New additions to the complex include a redesigned outdoor plaza, a floor-to-ceiling water wall feature fed by rainfall, a new waterfall and a new bistro.
There will also be two new connecting pools and existing pools for animals will double in size. For more information on the expansion plans, click here.
Campaigners against animals in captivity with the organization Lifeforce say any expansion is bad news. "More pools, more captives," the group said in a release.
But patrons like teacher Erin Jorginson don't see it that way.
"It is pretty small quarters as it is, so it would be good for the animals and good for the exhibits because people can see more," she said.
In anticipation of the expansion, 21-year-old male beluga Imaq has been moved to SeaWorld in San Antonio, Texas, while the four female whales have been left behind. There's no word yet if Imaq will be returning.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Peter Grainger
