Atlantic City Aquarium to Reopen March 24

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (March 24, 2025)  — Five years after it closed for renovations during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Atlantic City Aquarium will reopen Monday, updated inside and out.

The media will get the first look inside following an 11:45 a.m. ribbon cutting ceremony, and it will open to the public at 12:30, a city news release said.

Regular hours will start Tuesday and will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week — closed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day — according to the city.

The city had estimated several earlier reopening dates, each time postponing again to do more work.

But this time the work is done and it’s really going to happen, according to the city.

“We could have opened the aquarium (earlier), but the standards of this administration were to open when everything is complete,” Mayor Marty Small Sr. said in September. “We are working to make it the best aquarium it can be.”

The aquarium had long been a popular destination for residents and visitors, especially families, and its closing took away the centerpiece of the Gardner’s Basin bayfront park in the Inlet.

The park on North New Hampshire Avenue also includes restaurants and fishing and sightseeing boat rides.

The city has also received a $1.4 million grant to demolish the old public bathroom next to the aquarium, which has been closed for years, and build a new one. That new bathroom will open next fall, Small has said.

During a media tour of the aquarium in September, work was still being done on the HVAC system and on finishing touches outside. New duct work and wiring could be seen as ceiling tiles and lighting had yet to be installed.

Aquarist Sarita Stroud said then there will be expanded touch tanks when the facility reopens, with new species such as small sharks.

“The touch tanks are the most popular,” Stroud said then, adding hundreds of school trips come through each year.

Officials have said the renovations took longer than expected, as workers found mold and other unexpected problems, and supply line shortages continued after the pandemic ended.

The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority granted the city, which owns the aquarium, $1.16 million for interior updates.

The funding was part of the overall $3.6 million Gardner’s Basin grant received from the New Jersey Green Acres program and the state Department of Community Affairs for park improvements.

The city also has dredged the marina and rebuilt the main pier at Gardner’s Basin, city engineer Uzo Ahiarakwe has said.

Improvements to the interior of the aquarium include new roofing, windows, decks, doors, ceilings, lighting, flooring and tiles.

The interior drywall has been replaced and painted, and the bathrooms have been upgraded. Repairs also have been made to the duct, electrical, HVAC and plumbing systems. Other improvements include a remodeled gift shop.

Funding for the exterior improvements come from the American Rescue Plan. Those improvements include an updated façade and a mural on the outside of the building.

Source: The Press of Atlantic City

REPORTER: Michelle Brunetti Post

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