The much-anticipated Sobela Ocean Aquarium at the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium officially opened on Labor Day weekend.
Jewish community philanthropists Barnett and Shirley Helzberg, who proposed the aquarium a decade ago and are its major sponsors, cut the grand opening ribbon.
The name “Sobela” was selected by the Helzbergs to honor their grandchildren — it’s an acronym of 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,” said Sean Putney, executive director and CEO of the Kansas City Zoo, in a press release. “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 total cost of the project was $77 million, with $45 million coming from the Zoological District and $32 million from private donations. An additional $10 million in private donations is being raised for an endowment to support the aquarium into the future.
In addition to the contribution from the Shirley and Barnett Helzberg Fund, donors from the Jewish community include Bonnie and Herb Buchbinder; the Abe and Anna Bograd Memorial Trust; Arvin Gottlieb Charitable Foundation; Myron and Nicole Wang; and the Sosland Foundation.
The 650,000-gallon aquarium includes nearly 8,000 animals representing more than 200 species, including sea otters, a sea turtle, sharks and giant Pacific octopus. It features six zones with 34 habitats that tell the story of how ocean currents connect animals across the globe.
According to the zoo's website, the addition of the aquarium positions the zoo to conduct new conservation projects to educate guests and increase the zoo’s role in critical initiatives. These programs include:
- Working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program to help consumers choose seafood that is fished or farmed in ways that are healthier for ocean animal welfare and the environment.
- Helping to ensure the conservation of endangered species of corals found off the coast of the U.S. and in the Caribbean Sea.
- Partnering with rescue centers to provide a home for sea otters when returning them to the ocean is not a viable option.
The zoo will also be providing an ocean-themed, standards-aligned curriculum for schools. The zoo's current curriculum is already free to all Jackson and Clay county schools and reaches more than 23,000 students annually.
“We are excited to bring this new experience to those in Kansas City…,” Putney said. “We now have the ability to talk with them and discuss why the oceans are important, how we have a connection to them and, hopefully, encourage them to support aquatic life and the realms in which they live.”
Entry to the aquarium is included with zoo admission or membership, but a free timed reservation is required. Reservations for the aquarium are available online at kansascityzoo.org.
