Colorado’s aquarium, Ocean Journeys, is closing on 2 April, after having rung up higher expenses, and lower attendance, than planned, and having been unable to get more public money to pay down their debt.
I’m sorry to see it go — the exhibits were pretty cool and nicely educational, and it’s just a neat thing to have a local aquarium. But I’m not surprised, really. The ticket prices were high for the half a day max that it took to tour, and it was really a once-every-three-years kind of place to visit … and it just couldn’t hold out for three years.
It was definitely on the “nice to” list. And I’d rather see the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District put money into the Zoo first, not to mention the Botanic Gardens. Both offer more entertainment and education for the buck, IMO, and carry a longer tradition than OJ did.
I always thought it should be called “River Journey” since there’s no ocean whatsoever in the building, and the tour is based around two river systems. It sounds a little silly, but wasn’t part of OJ’s problem that we expected too much once inside? River Journey — especially if it had tie-ins to great local rafting trips, gear, state science studies, sustainable water usage, etc. — might have fit the character of Denver better than something purporting to be an aquarium.
Huh. Actually, that’s an interesting idea. I wonder whether folks felt “aquarium=ocean” so much that it wasn’t even considered — or whether it was feared that the public wouldn’t be interested in rivers.
Still, a good thought.