Fans of the National Aquarium will have to say goodbye to their favorite animals in the Upland Tropical Rain Forest exhibit for a few months, as work begins to replace the glass in its pyramid-shaped roof.
Aquarium officials announced today that work will start on March 3 to replace all 684 panes of glass in the rooftop pyramid of its original building on Pier 3.
As part of the repairs, the Upland Tropical Rain Forest exhibit, which is directly beneath the glass pyramid, will be closed to guests during construction.
In addition, animals that live in the rain forest exhibit will be relocated and cared for in the back-of-house portion of the aquarium’s Australia: Wild Extremes exhibit on Pier 3 and at the aquarium’s Animal Care and Rescue Center at 901 East Fayette Street. The move will be a first for most of them.
“All of the animals will be removed from the exhibit during this time,” said aquarium public relations manager Jenny Fulginiti, in an email message. “We will be moving 95 animals to temporary housing for the reglazing project.”
Funded by state and city funds and private donations, the $8 million repair effort is expected to be completed this fall, when the Rain Forest exhibit will reopen. Admission prices will not change during construction.
The initiative has been in the works for years but gained added urgency after a pane shattered in 2019. No one was hurt and the aquarium installed a cloth barrier to catch any other glass that might fall until repairs could begin.
The shape of the pyramid won’t change, but the glass will. The replacement glass has been selected to be energy efficient, aesthetically pleasing and bird friendly, with permanent acid-etching designed to protect migrating birds from striking the surface.
The new glass will help control temperatures inside the exhibit from getting too warm, creating a pleasant experience for animals and guests, and will help eliminate “hot-spots” on the plants below and create an ambient nighttime glow from the outside.
The biggest change to the appearance of the aquarium, which turned 40 last August, is that the roof will be accentuated with LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights that trace the outline of the pyramid. The lights will be capable of shining blue for the aquarium, purple for the Ravens and orange for the Orioles, and won’t have a negative effect on the animals inside.
In keeping with the aquarium’s mission of conservation, the old glass will be “upcycled” and repurposed into materials used for road paving and fiberglass insulation.
“The Upland Tropical Rain Forest is not only a guest favorite, it literally defines Baltimore’s skyline.” said National Aquarium CEO John Racanelli, in a statement. “These improvements will ensure the integrity of our building while accelerating our multi-year initiative to be Maryland’s most bird-friendly glass structure.”
The aquarium was designed by Cambridge Seven Associates to take visitors on a metaphorical global journey from the bottom of the ocean to the treetops of a South American rain forest, seven stories above Pier 3.
On its website, the aquarium describes the rain forest exhibit under the pyramid as “one of the most biologically diverse – and rapidly disappearing – habitats on Earth.” In addition to thousands of tropical plants, it houses birds such as the Blue-Crowned Marmot, two-toed sloths and golden lion tamarin monkeys.
Design Collective Inc. is the architect for the glass replacement project, and Plano-Coudon Construction is the lead contractor.
According to Fulginiti, workers will replace 10 panes at a time. The tropical plants will remain in place – one reason the aquarium didn’t schedule work during the coldest winter months.
“We are expecting that our HVAC system will be able to maintain appropriate temperatures for the plant collections during the project” and “all open windows will be covered at night and during inclement weather” to protect the plants, Fulginiti said.
The biggest investment in the project came from the state of Maryland, which allocated $7 million. Other large grants came from the City of Baltimore, Baltimore County and the Abell Foundation.
“Our administration has been proud to commit $7 million to the replacement of the National Aquarium’s iconic glass pyramid,” said Gov. Larry Hogan, in a statement. “The Rain Forest exhibit is unlike any other and this investment ensures generations of Marylanders will continue to be inspired by this immersive space.”
The work “ensures the future of the glass pyramid for the next half-century,” Racanelli said. “It would not have been possible without the generous support of the State of Maryland, our local governments, the corporate community and our philanthropic partners, all of whom recognized the importance of the National Aquarium to our community and stepped up to help make this a reality.”
