KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Zoo announced Tuesday the official name of a 650,000-gallon aquarium slated to open Sept. 1.
Its name, Sobela Ocean Aquarium, was selected by benefactors Barnett and Shirley Helzberg to honor their grandchildren, Sawyer, Oliver, Benton, Elias, Leo, Amelia, and Arthur.
“Today has been more than 10 years in the making and started with an idea that Barnett and Shirley Helzberg had for an aquarium at the Kansas City Zoo,” explained Sean Putney, executive director and CEO of the Kansas City Zoo. “They knew that a lot of kids in Kansas City would never get to see the ocean in person, so they wanted to bring the ocean and all its wonders to them right here in the middle of the country. They made the first financial commitment to see the project come to life.”
The aquarium will feature six zones with 34 habitats, telling the story of how ocean currents connect animals across the globe. It will include more than 8,000 animals, such as sea otters, a sea turtle, sharks, and a giant Pacific octopus.
Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas got a sneak peek of the new aquarium Tuesday, posting a picture of him taking a video of a zebra shark for his son on Twitter.
This is the only video content I will bring home today that my son (age 2) cares about. #BabyShark pic.twitter.com/M6QUjCtlhx
— Mayor Q (@QuintonLucasKC) May 9, 2023
More than five miles of pipes are located in a water filtration system to help keep each animal healthy.
Admittance to Sobela Ocean Aquarium will be included with either admission to the zoo or a Friends of the Zoo membership. In addition to providing a new amenity for zoo guests, the aquarium will also offer educational opportunities for children and open new pathways to ocean conservation and research.
The project's total cost is $77 million, with $45 million coming from the Zoological District and $32 million from private donations. The Zoological District is made up of Jackson and Clay counties, which approved a one-eighth cent sales tax in 2011 to support the zoo.
An additional $10 million in private donations is being raised for an endowment to support the future of the aquarium.
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