C U LT U R E + E N T E R TA I N M E N T
“[There’s] the peaceful, healing side of it, where you can just sit and look at an aquarium or sit with butterflies and feel your heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure go down.” -Audrey Otto
TAKING FLIGHT Now, 11 years after adding the aquatic habitats, it’s time to expand again. But this time, the building itself will be growing along with the exhibits.
From there, there will be two tide pools, a behind-the-scenes viewing station, a predatory reef, and more.
“A lot of people said we couldn’t do it, but we did. And now we’re ready to add on,” she said.
Otto added, “We want more behind-the-scenes to help people understand not only what it takes to have what we have here, but also to inspire the next generation of scientists and marine biologists.”
With the diagram ready to tack on a perimeter of more space comes plenty of plans for additional wildlife to watch. “A larger facility will allow us to do more with exhibits, programming, and also build behind the scenes, so our staff can do their jobs the way they’re meant to and not in a renovated gift shop,” said Otto. As laid out in the plan, a new facility would start with a connections gallery, showing how the butterflies and marine life connect to that of the Midwest and the Big Sioux River.
22 |
She said she’s really excited about adding to the interactive experiences, like a shrimp feeding pool, expanding the stingray exhibit to include sharks, a turtle feeding pond, and classrooms. In about a year, construction should start, and the year following should unveil the new and improved Dakota Aquarium & Butterfly House.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT BUTTERFLYHOUSEAQUARIUM.ORG.+
605MAGAZINE.COM
