The Oldest Public Aquarium in Texas Will Close for Good
Just as we are seeing signs that a return to normal (in reference to the COVID-19 lockdown) another blow to the collective museums and various institutions of intellectual curiosity has been dealt by the economical pandemic blanketing the country.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the oldest public aquarium in Texas will be closing its doors forever. Truth be told, the doors to the Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park in South Dallas have been shut since March - but that was done with the intention of reopening them and sharing the wealth of marine creatures and knowledge as soon as patrons could safely walk through the doors again. Alas, the 84 year old bastion of and oceanic understanding was not able to survive the Coronavirus.
The aquarium had been in dire financial straits since 2009 when the Dallas Zoo took over operations with the explicit understanding that the City of Dallas underwrite the losses. Those losses typically totaled between $150,000 and $200,000 per year. When the shutdown occurred, it was the beginning of the end for the aquatic mainstay.
Currently, the aquarium is trying to find new homes for nearly 4,000 animals.