Seattle Aquarium set for makeover

When visitors walk into the remodeled Seattle Aquarium in 2008 they'll face a floor-to-ceiling tank filled with colorful Northwest fish.

Called Window on Washington, it will be the centerpiece of a $37.6 million aquarium makeover, the largest expansion of the facility since it opened in 1977, and the first expansion since the Pacific coral-reef exhibit was added in 1985.

A joint project of the city and the Aquarium Society, the work is being done both under water and on the surface. The city's $22.4 million share is going to replace old creosote-soaked wood pilings, some 100 years old, with steel ones for a platform that is expected to survive 50 years.

The rest of the makeover money will come from the Aquarium Society. It will be used to build the new fish tank, to be located at the aquarium's entrance, and to remodel the east end of the aquarium, moving the entrance to Alaskan Way.

That end of the building will be torn down all the way to the water, and the shell will be rebuilt, with the old facade, a historical landmark, to be put back on.

The project represents a scaling back of plans from more than four years ago for a new aquarium along the waterfront. Neighborhood opposition, questions about the stability of the seawall and the declaration of the pier that was to be the site of the new aquarium as a historical landmark all combined to delay the plans.

The remodeling, according to the aquarium, is the first phase of a larger project.

Laura Austin, aquarium spokeswoman, said Pier 59 is in such bad shape it needs to be fixed now. Also, she said, uncertainty surrounding the seawall and replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct make it difficult to proceed with a major fund-raising campaign.

The aquarium, which had a record 716,000 visitors last year, will be closed from Wednesday through Sept. 16, while the east end is demolished.

All the current aquarium exhibits are expected to remain open during the construction, although the shorebirds and seahorses have been moved to a temporary holding location because of stress from the loud, sudden noise of the work.

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com