Stonington commission OKs plans for new Mystic Aquarium facility
Mystic — The Stonington Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a special-use permit Tuesday night for Mystic Aquarium’s new $3.5 million conservation, education and research center on the eastern portion of its Coogan Boulevard campus.
Commission members had continued the hearing from two weeks ago because they wanted more details about wetlands, drainage and water discharge plans and to see three-dimensional renderings of the plan.
Aquarium President Stephen Coan told the commission the project is not designed to increase the aquarium’s 750,000 annual attendance but improve animal holding, research and education areas. He said the project will allow the aquarium to meet current accreditation standards for fish holding and education. Aquarium officials also addressed questions about the management of water discharge, saying the building will hold 50,000 gallons compared to the 2 million gallons in the rest of the aquarium.
The aquarium also had addressed the long list of drainage concerns initially raised by Town Engineer Scot Deledda.
The two-story, 18,000-square-foot facility will be called the Milne Center for Ocean Science and Conservation. Plans are to break ground for the facility in 2018, once fundraising is completed. The project is the latest revision of a plan for an updated research facility at the aquarium. The commission attached several drainage-related stipulations to its approval at the urging of commission member Frances Hoffman.
The building, which will have public exhibits and viewing areas, would be connected to the existing Aquatic Animal Study Center.
Plans call for the first floor to have a large area where newly arrived animals would be held to acclimate before being moved into exhibits. It also would include a conference room and lobby.
The second floor would include a mezzanine that overlooks the animal holding area, three classrooms, office space and bathrooms.
The Milne center is one of the initial phases of what Mystic Aquarium officials envision as a $25 million to $50 million update of the institution and its exhibits over the next decade.
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