A Gift to the Future: Loveland Aquarium celebrates 25 years
DRAPER, Utah (ABC4) — This year, the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium is celebrating their 25th anniversary by placing a time capsule full of aquarium memorabilia just outside the construction zone of their new Science Learning Center.
“We thought it’d be a really fun way to honor the past,” says Loveland’s Director of Marketing and PR, Karmel Harper. “To honor the team members, past and present, who contributed to the aquarium.”
In 1999, the aquarium’s founder and CEO Brent Anderson first started his aquatic facility journey after launching his first outreach “Aquavan,” which predates the aquarium’s first location at the Gateway Mall in Downtown Salt Lake City.
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Aquarium offices joined with a crowd of selected individuals, both young and old, who they say helped shape the aquarium into what it is today.
“Our success was really due to a collective effort and is a testament to the power of the passion and dedication,” says Anderson. “I can vividly recall the early days when things were difficult and not a whole lot of people thought it was really a good idea to bring an aquarium to the desert.”
The time capsule containing things like shark teeth, small diving equipment, sea-life figures, and other items was placed just outside the aquarium’s construction site for their new Science Learning Center.
Which they say, will nearly double the size of the aquarium.
This 120,000 square-foot facility, named the L.S and Aline W. Skaggs Science Learning Center, will include a five-story Asian Cloud Forest Habitat & Endangered Species Conservation Center, interactive science stations and exhibits, laboratories, classrooms, and much more.
For some young, dedicated explorers, it’s a big development they say they’re excited to be a part of. They continue saying it’s a step towards securing the future of the aquarium, their animals, and the impact this facility has had on their lives.
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“I donate to the aquarium because they help animals, and I like to help animals,” says the aquarium’s youngest donor, 12-year-old Lilly Lane. “It makes me feel awesome seeing Brent and the Aquarium’s success. It shows that people have worked hard and that new animals who are endangered or need to be protected can live in a place so that way they can grow bigger and not be endangered anymore.”
The new facility does not have a set opening date, but officials say they are aiming for it to open and operate by the end of the year, or the beginning of 2025.
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