Ramako said:
Yes, a second-rate aquarium is better than nothing. But I don't know how you can jump to the conclusion that this will be second-rate simply by comparing pictures. Have you ever been to a Ripley's aquarium or are you just looking for ways to shit on this project? Hardly air tight logic.

Can't we just wait and see before declaring this a disaster? This is a high-profile project for Ripley's, so I wouldn't expect them to half-ass it. And even if they do give us a "second-rate" aquarium (which will be the 5th largest on the continent) I'll still gladly enjoy all the wonders inside while you stand outside crying about it.
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WOW! I think you might be right, Ripley's aquariums really are world class. I just went to their web site and saw that they are going to have the Weekie Wachee Mermaids on display. I'm not sure what a "Weekie Wachee" is but real, live mermaids would be incredible. And I bet they are the only aquarium in the world to have mermaids. The Shedd Aquarium must be so jealous.

Now if only we could have Weekie Wachee Mermaids in Toronto, we'd have a world class aquarium. (Or better yet, mermen! I'd love to see a couple of those.) I wonder if they could breed a few of them mermaids and sell them to us for our aquarium. Talk about educational!
 
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Ramako said:
Ripley's Myrtle Beach aquarium is 85,000 sq. ft. and the one in Gatlinburg is 115,000 sq. ft. The Vancouver Aquarium is 100,000 sq. ft. Toronto's will be 150,000 sq. ft., making it the fifth largest aquarium on the continent.


Some reviews from Trip Advisor, in order of highest ranking to lowest:

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies: 4.5 stars

Georgia Aquarium: 3.5 stars

Shedd Aquarium: 3.5 stars

Vancouver Aquarium: 3.5 stars

Ripley's Aquarium of Myrtle Beach: 3 stars

As far as your average tourist is concerned, it's not automatic that Ripley's = second rate.
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square footage...
Atlanta -550,000
Chicago - 422,000
Tampa - 250,000
Long Beach - 157,000
Toronto (proposed) - 150,000
Baltimore - 115,000
Gatlinburg - 115,000
New Orleans - 110,000
Denver - 107,000
Vancouver - 100,000
Las Vegas (Mandalay Bay) - 95,000
Myrtle Beach - 85,000
Boston - 74,000
San Francisco - 65,000
Minneapolis - 44,000
Pittsburgh - 42,000

Although this can be a misleading statistic as you could have very large concourses, giftshops, restaurants within a building which would compromise the actual exhibit area.
Hopefully with the separate 50,000 sq ft commercial complex most of the 150,000 sq ft proposed here will be used for actual exhibits.
I really wish someone other than Ripley's was behind this project... the name sounds horribly childish "Ripley's Aquarium of Canada"
 
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Ramako said:
Why are you picturing those "beauties" at the base of the CN Tower when a rendering of the project has already been released? Are you looking for disasters?
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The rendering provided isn't much better than the examples a few posts back. It's also likely to be worse considering renderings usually aren't the most accurate.
 
tzv said:
Ontario Place is so far out of the way and at best a seasonal attraction, tourists would not venture there simply to see an aquarium. By placing it at the apex of the tourism industry, you are attracting walk-ups and making it a visible presence.

In 30 years they haven't found a better use for the land below the CN Tower, they might as well give this a try. Its sure more exciting than the mini-putt they used to have. This is a perfect example of infill development.
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It's not that far out of the way. It's one of the things that could help turn Ontario Place into a year-long destination.
 
Other than not approving the project, I am not sure much can be done to make this a "1st rate" larger aquarium (if one is drawing distinctions). I am inclined to be happy that we are finally getting an aquarium and that the dead space around the CN Tower (an area which is in terrible shape) is going to be improved.
 
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Here are some more reviews from Trip Advisor:


Atlanta (550,000 sq. ft.): 3.5/5

Chicago (422,000 sq. ft.): 3.5/5

Monterey Bay (322,000 sq. ft): 4.5/5

Tampa Bay (250,000 sq. ft.): 3.5/5

Long Beach (157,000 sq. ft.): 3.5/5

Toronto (Ripley's) (150,000 sq. ft.)

Gatlinburg (Ripley's) (115,000 sq. ft.): 4.5/5

Vancouver (100,000 sq. ft.): 3.5/5

Myrtle Beach (Ripley's) (85,000 sq. ft.): 3/5

Newport (80,000 sq. ft.): 4/5

Boston (74,000 sq. ft.): 3.5/5

San Francisco (65,000 sq. ft.): 3.5/5

Seattle (50,000 sq. ft.): 3.5/5
 
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Torontovibe said:
WOW! I think you might be right, Ripley's aquariums really are world class. I just went to their web site and saw that they are going to have the Weekie Wachee Mermaids on display. I'm not sure what a "Weekie Wachee" is but real, live mermaids would be incredible. And I bet they are the only aquarium in the world to have mermaids. The Shedd Aquarium must be so jealous.

Now if only we could have Weekie Wachee Mermaids in Toronto, we'd have a world class aquarium. (Or better yet, mermen! I'd love to see a couple of those.) I wonder if they could breed a few of them mermaids and sell them to us for our aquarium. Talk about educational!
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Stop moving the goal posts.

Your argument was that this aquarium would be second-rate because of its overall square footage and the size and quality of the tanks. The fact is that size has nothing to do with quality, and the links that I posted support that.

I don't like Ripley's or their cheesy exhibitions either, but that's completely incidental to the size and quality of the tanks and specimens they contain.

Anyway, I was curious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G52eNM4wsaY
 
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Talking of fromage, my only experience of Ripley's fine cultural establishments was in Chicago in 1985 - where I came face to face with the World's Biggest Furball at the Believe It Or Not Museum.
 
Urban Shocker said:
Talking of fromage, my only experience of Ripley's fine cultural establishments was in Chicago in 1985 - where I came face to face with the World's Biggest Furball at the Believe It Or Not Museum.
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Are you sure that wasn't at the lazy bear weekend party? lol (maybe you got confused)
 
I've been to the Georgia Aquarium. It is truly massive. It could have been equally impressive had it been half the size though.

I do want to comment at how well they designed it. There was one massive atrium/lobby and off of that were 5 different sections that started and ended in a loop back to the main lobby.

For most sections, they designed it to have two levels - one level for families and your average museum-goer and then another strictly for school groups. I'm sure this made teachers and chaperones happy. Then on the busiest days of course, they could open up both areas to really get tons of visitors in.

It worked really well.

As for the Toronto Aquarium, my initial concern is that all we'll get is a massive Ripley's advertisement on the roof. Could we at least get that advertisement made out of shades of grasses for a green roof?
 
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