Gdynia Aquarium to be extended

An agreement was signed on Monday, 8 February, thanks to which an educational path will be extended at the Gdynia Aquarium.

Thanks to the conclusion of an agreement with the main contractor for the project “Extension of the Educational Trail”, the exhibition space of the facility will increase by as much as 900 m2. As we can read on the Aquarium’s official website:

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In a hitherto undeveloped area, in the ground floor of the building, 13 tanks will be created to display aquatic animals which, until now, could not be exhibited.

This is a major step towards modernising the facility and making it more attractive. The new aquariums to be created as part of the expansion will contain more water than is currently available in all the tanks. The total cost of the planned works will amount to over PLN 16.5 million.

The presented numbers are impressive. According to the plans, the smallest of the new aquariums will have a capacity of just over 2,000 litres and the largest of nearly 127,000 litres. In total, the facility will be expanded by tanks with a total capacity of nearly 450 thousand litres!

The planned space will include aquaria, inhabited among others by cartilaginous fish – sharks and rays. It will be shown how changes in salinity, wave action or different types of substrate affect the animals we can meet in different bodies of water. In addition to expanding the exhibition, we plan to organise engaging activities for kids and whole families. This new space will help us explain the relationship between the marine world and the human world. It will also make it easier for us to talk about the ecological problems that nature has to face these days,” reads the press release

As part of the expansion, it is necessary to carry out a number of construction works, thanks to which the structure of the Gdynia Aquarium will be strengthened. This will allow not only the preparation of expositions, but also ensure the safety of all visitors.

The planned works include strengthening the existing structure of the building, lowering the foundations and basement floor, building a staircase, constructing a new lift and many necessary installations.

The extension of the Gdynia Aquarium seems to be reaching its happy end, although it was not without its problems. The contractor for the redevelopment was selected in a second tender procedure, as the first time the proposals submitted exceeded the financial capabilities of the institution.

According to the plan, the extension should be completed in April 2023. The Aquarium authorities do not hide their joy and hopes connected with the possibilities created by the modernisation of the facility, which, despite fulfilling an extremely important educational function, is far behind similar facilities in neighbouring countries. We can only hope that this is an important (and first) step on the right path.