A nonprofit conservation group has completed a $9.5 million purchase of San Francisco’s Aquarium of the Bay.
Thursday’s purchase by The Bay Institute allows the formerly failing tourist attraction to continue and expand its mission of education, science and conservation of the Bay, aquarium officials said.
“As a result of the acquisition, The Bay Institute’s work to protect the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas will reach a larger audience,” said Bay Institute Executive Director Christina Swanson.
Swanson added that the aquarium “will be able to offer broader school programs, undertake more aggressive research and conservation projects, and become a crossroad for collaboration among the scientific, educational, interpretive and conservation communities.”
The aquarium, located next to Pier 39, opened as Underwater World in 1996, but declared bankruptcy in 1999.
Aquarium CEO John Frawley approached the institute in 2005 about turning the aquarium into a nonprofit. Frawley will continue to head the aquarium as executive director of The Bay Institute Aquarium Foundation.
The 50,000-square-foot facility holds about 20,000 sea creatures, including sharks, rays and octopuses, and is visited by about 600,000 people each year. It employs about 100 people, including animal husbandry staff, naturalists, educators, and visitors’ services, retail and administrative staff.
– Bay City News
