14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, the National Aquarium in Washington D.C. officially closed. In the months to come, employees and collaborators will take care of moving the 2,500 animals now living at this facility to other locations.
Once the aquarium's residents are all shipped to their new homes, the Herbert C. Hoover Department of Commerce, i.e. the building that houses the aquarium, will undergo extensive renovation.
According to International Business Times, aquarium employees estimate that the animals will have all found new homes by March 2014.
The same source tells us that the National Aquarium in Washington D.C. opened in said building 81 years ago.
Given the facility's long history in this part of the US, its board of directors plans to carry out feasibility studies and determine whether or not it is possible for the aquarium to continue operating in some other location.
“Here at the National Aquarium, we value our D.C. venue’s rich history as the nation’s first public aquarium, and we are committed to maintaining a presence in the capital, where a public aquarium has existed since the late 1800s,” Board Chair Tamika Langley Tremaglio reportedly said in a statement.