Atlantic City ‘Pushes Back’ Aquarium Reopening Again

Stop me if you've heard this before. The city of Atlantic City has "pushed back" the reopening of the Atlantic City Aquarium temporarily.

Temporary: the dictionary definition of temporary is "an adjective used to describe something that isn't permanent or lasts only a short time".

By anyone's definition, 4 1/2 years is not temporary, but that's how long the Atlantic City Aquarium has been closed, and the vague word on the new expected opening date makes it sound as though we are looking at a date in 2025.

Monday's announcement of an additional delay said the reopening had again been pushed back.

"The grand reopening has been pushed back at least a few months, with the hopes now being the Aquarium reopens before the year is over."

 

The Atlantic City Aquarium Closed in March 2020

The Atlantic City Aquarium first closed because of COVID-19 in March 2020.

Then, on May 13, 2020,  the aquarium wrote on Facebook, " We miss you, look forward to seeing you all soon".

The renovations had begun.

Later, the aquarium posted on Facebook that it would be " tentatively reopening Fall 2023", but that didn't happen.

The city blamed supply chain and funding issues and then the expansion of the scope of the job.

What Work Has Been Happening at the Aquarium?

In a previous statement, Atlantic City spokesman Andrew Kramer said that the aquarium got new roofing, windows, lighting, and flooring, a new deck and ceiling for the top-level lookout, bathroom renovations, and updates to its electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems, and a fresh paint job.

The latest delay has been work on the exterior of the Aquarium building.

No exterior building or siding improvements were included in the original project and that work was added with money from American Rescue Plan funds.

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small is determined that the Aquarium be completely revamped before it reopens.

“The Atlantic City Aquarium is looking more beautiful than ever, and I promise when the doors finally reopen everyone will be in agreement this has been worth the wait. We will never expedite something just to say it got done, that would be a disservice to our taxpayers."

Now work on the seawall bathroom attached to the Aquarium, which has been closed for several years, has been added to the project, with the bathroom's estimated reopening date in the summer of 2025.

Don't be surprised if that's when the Atlantic City Aquarium also reopens.