Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Subscriber Login
My Profile
SpotlightNews
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
      • Spotlight On Business
      • Spotlight on Finance
    • Crime
    • Discover-Towns
      • Discover Coeymans Selkirk and Feura Bush
      • Discover Delmar
      • Discover Glenmont
      • Discover Guilderland
      • Discover Latham and Boght
      • Discover Loudonville
      • Discover Menands
      • Discover Slingerlands
      • Discover Village of Colonie
      • Discover Voorheesville and New Scotland
    • Government
    • Milestones
    • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • The Spot 518
    • Galleries
    • Food and Recipes
  • Hot Spots Calendar
    • Calendar Listings
    • Submit Your Event
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Our Opinion
    • Point of View
    • Your Opinion
  • Family Now
  • Classifieds
    • Employment – Hire Power
    • Services In the Spotlight
    • Classified Listings
    • Advertiser Login
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriber login
    • Give the gift of news
    • Join us – subscribe today
    • Newsletter sign up
    • Renew Subscription
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Business
      • Spotlight On Business
      • Spotlight on Finance
    • Crime
    • Discover-Towns
      • Discover Coeymans Selkirk and Feura Bush
      • Discover Delmar
      • Discover Glenmont
      • Discover Guilderland
      • Discover Latham and Boght
      • Discover Loudonville
      • Discover Menands
      • Discover Slingerlands
      • Discover Village of Colonie
      • Discover Voorheesville and New Scotland
    • Government
    • Milestones
    • Obituaries
  • Sports
  • The Spot 518
    • Galleries
    • Food and Recipes
  • Hot Spots Calendar
    • Calendar Listings
    • Submit Your Event
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Our Opinion
    • Point of View
    • Your Opinion
  • Family Now
  • Classifieds
    • Employment – Hire Power
    • Services In the Spotlight
    • Classified Listings
    • Advertiser Login
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriber login
    • Give the gift of news
    • Join us – subscribe today
    • Newsletter sign up
    • Renew Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Spotlight News
No Result
View All Result
Home News Business

Viaport aquarium is open

Michael Hallisey by Michael Hallisey
November 17, 2016
in Business, Entertainment, News, Schenectady County, The Spot, Towns
Reading Time: 2 mins read
The tunnel aquarium holds 15,000 gallons of water, with an estimated weight of  60 tons. (Photo by Michael Hallisey / TheSpot518)

The tunnel aquarium holds 15,000 gallons of water, with an estimated weight of 60 tons. (Photo by Michael Hallisey / TheSpot518)


SCHENECTADY — A year’s worth of anticipating the opening of the Via Aquarium has finally come to an end.

“It’s been a challenge,” said Via Aquarium Director David Gross, who shared that it took longer than expected to get the aquarium operational. Each of the exhibits built into the 25,000 square foot attraction was fabricated overseas, and to be reassembled here. Two obstacles factored into the delay, language and the metric system. “The life support systems are in Turkish, and in metric. And, we have U.S. pumps that are in inches. A lot of the lighting, for example, were also Turkish and they weren’t wired to U.S. code.

“It would almost be easier starting from scratch,” he said.

Nevertheless, the aquarium opened to much fanfare on Saturday, Nov. 12. More than 2,000 people on Facebook voiced their plans to attend opening day. And, according to Viaport spokesperson Alan Fanitzi, nearly 10,000 people expressed interest over social media.

Almost immediately aquarium patrons can expect to forget the retail stores that once occupied this corner of then-Rotterdam Square Mall. Exhibits ranging from virtual reality tours of our planet’s oceans, to a petting zoos where kids can get up and close to cownose rays and southern stingrays. Kids receive a passport with the intent of earning seven stamps as they traverse through this underwater safari comprised. In all, Gross said nearly 1,000 different species are displayed in 37 exhibits, all requiring about 75,000 gallons of water. “And, we’re still adding more. I don’t have a final count just yet.”

Patrons are guided through a “natural” path — river bed, sand and ocean — that Gross said should take them more than an hour to complete. Aside from looking for clown and trigger fish, there’s adventures along the way. One such adventure has visitors picking out trash from their river pathway. Towards the end, visitors walk under 60 tons of water in a tunnel aquarium featuring various sharks, eels and exotic fish.

“The whole idea is to get people connected to the world of water, and realize we are downstream from somebody else, and upstream from a whole bunch of other things, too,” said Gross. “We’re trying to sneak some education in there while you’re having fun.”

Prior to Viaport’s acquisition of Rotterdam Square Mall last year, the retail space suffered from stores vacating the 28-year old mall. In 2013, Deloitte Consulting revealed more consumers chose to shop over the internet than traditional brick and mortar. That trend has not stopped since. Today, Viaport and neighboring Crossgates Mall have aggressively pursued entertainment venues — nightclubs, comedy clubs and adult playrooms involving arcades and bowling alleys. Providing people the attractions they can’t find at home has taken priority, said Gross.

“There are several other aquariums in malls across the country,” said Gross. “The idea was to add entertainment to the mall, to bring people back. Because, online shopping has really challenged the big box stores like Macy’s and Sears. … You can’t get this kind of entertainment from home from your computer or t.v.”

Tags: aquariumRotterdam Square MallViaport Aquarium
ShareTweetShareShare
Previous Post

Bethlehem Central School District residents to vote on $32.2 million infrastructure improvement proposal

Next Post

Environmental groups urge Cuomo to invest in crucial water infrastructure

Leave Comment

Stay Connected with Us

Recent News

Subdivision proposed at end of Wetherby Court; access an issue

June 28, 2022

SPOTTED: The Shaker High Class of ’22 graduation ceremony

June 26, 2022

Survivor reconnects with surgeon at Capital Region Heart Ball

June 26, 2022
Horizontal shot of four apartment air conditioners outside.

A buyer’s guide to home air conditioning systems

June 25, 2022

Hot Stories This Week

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Horizontal shot of four apartment air conditioners outside.

A buyer’s guide to home air conditioning systems

June 25, 2022
A football referee tries to stay warm durig a pop up snow storm during a game between CBA and Shenendehowa in 2021.
Jim Franco / Spotlight News

Shortage of officials has reached a ‘critical point’

June 22, 2022

SPOTTED: The Colonie High class of ’22 graduation ceremony

June 24, 2022
The Selkirk Yards. The CHPE project will run on West Yard Road around these CSX facilities. Spotlight News Photo by Jim Franco.

Discover: Coeymans, Selkirk & Feura Bush – The Champlain Hudson Power Express is underway

June 15, 2022

Subdivision proposed at end of Wetherby Court; access an issue

June 28, 2022

SPOTTED: The Shaker High Class of ’22 graduation ceremony

June 26, 2022

Survivor reconnects with surgeon at Capital Region Heart Ball

June 26, 2022
Horizontal shot of four apartment air conditioners outside.

A buyer’s guide to home air conditioning systems

June 25, 2022
Spotlight News

Spotlight News, The Spot 518 and Capital District Family Now are divisions of Community Media Group, LLC. Our local offices are located at 341 Delaware Ave, Delmar, NY 12054. You can contact us at 518.439.4949.

Browse

Follow Us

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact the Editor
  • Employment
  • Our Team
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2021 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 518.439.4949

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Spotlight On Business
    • Spotlight on Finance
  • Sports
  • The Spot 518
  • Hot Spots Calendar
  • Opinion
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Log In
  • Classifieds
    • Advertiser Login
  • Service Directory

© 2021 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 518.439.4949