National Aquarium Closing

In about three short months, the Downtown community will bid farewell to the 128-year-old National Aquarium (1400 Constitution Avenue), the nation’s oldest aquatic museum.  The unique institution, featuring alligators, sharks and loggerhead sea turtles, will shutter its doors on September 30 because of long-planned renovations at the Herbert C. Hoover Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of Commerce, where it has been resided since 1932.

Although the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has given the nonprofit organization until March 2014 to vacate the premises, the National Aquarium will begin moving 1,500 “aquatic treasures” to the National Aquarium in Baltimore and elsewhere in the fall.

The aquarium underwent an “extreme makeover” more than four years ago, receiving a DowntownDC BID Momentum Award and re-establishing itself as a first-rate attraction among the many tourist treasures of our nation’s capital. Thanks to a generous grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a new partnership with the National Aquarium in Baltimore, the DC Aquarium completed a five-year renovation effort to improve habitat conditions, animal care, the facility’s appearance and educational programming.

All is not lost. The aquarium’s board is exploring ways to maintain a DC presence and is reportedly negotiating with the GSA for a future location on Constitution Avenue. Stay tuned.