Mystic Aquarium opens new research, education facility
Mystic — Mystic Aquarium opened its new $10 million research and education building this week, a facility that President Stephen Coan said helps further the aquarium's mission of education, conservation and research.
The two-story, 18,000-square-foot Milne Center for Ocean Science and Conservation is located on the east side of the Coogan Boulevard campus. A grand opening is slated for Friday.
“This is very, very exciting. It’s the culmination of a lot of work to expand our mission here,” Coan said as he led a tour of the new facility with aquarium officials on Wednesday.
The first floor contains a 6,000-square-foot aquaculture facility that will contain 15 tanks holding 68,000 gallons of water. It will be used to raise exotic fish for the aquarium and other aquariums. Work is continuing as tanks are being fabricated and the facility is slated to be in operation in December.
Coan said the fact that the aquarium will be able to grow its own fish, instead of capturing them from the wild, ties in with its conservation focus.
The first floor also contains a conference room that can accommodate up to 300 people. Next month, it is scheduled to host an international beluga conference that is expected to draw 200 scientists from around the world.
The second floor comprises the aquarium’s preschool classroom, as well as two large state-of-the-art classrooms with touch tanks, smartboards and 75-inch monitors with interactive digital technology. There is also a large multipurpose space that overlooks the aquaculture facility and education offices.
Over the years, the aquarium has evolved from a place where people come to see fish and marine mammals to one which promotes conservation of the marine environment through its extensive education and research programs.
Coan said that last year the aquarium not only boasted a record attendance of 800,000 visitors but also reached 200,000 more people through its education programs, with 50,000 of those involved in conservation initiatives such as coastal resiliency efforts and citizen science projects.
“It’s reflective of a change in strategy as part of our ‘one ocean, one mission’ plan,” he said.
Coan and other aquarium officials said they are trying “to energize people in much deeper ways” to contribute to conservation efforts in their community.
The effort to build a research facility at the aquarium has been underway for 20 years. But with the aquarium recently renovating 10,000 feet of space at the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point campus into laboratory space, the new building is geared more toward aquaculture and education.
“This building really symbolizes the focus this organization has going forward to be the best aquarium we can be,” Coan said.
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