Aquarium of the Pacific Topping-Off Ceremony for New Pacific Visions Wing

January 25, 2018

A Magellanic Penguin will be among the VIPs signing the last steel beam that will become part of the Aquarium of the Pacific’s first major expansion. Members of the media are invited to this topping-off ceremony to witness this, learn the latest about the project, watch as Clark Construction crews raise and connect the last beam on the infrastructure of the Aquarium of the Pacific’s new Pacific Visions wing, and enjoy a light breakfast snack and a BBQ lunch on Tuesday, January 30, 2018, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Pacific Visions, a 29,000-square-foot, two-story sustainable structure, is designed by the San Francisco-based architecture and design firm EHDD. Pacific Visions is designed as a biomorphic structure that suggests the form of a whale and evokes the size, depth, variability, luminosity, and biological diversity of the Pacific Ocean. The wing will house a state-of-the-art immersive theater, expanded special exhibition and art galleries, and additional space for live animal exhibits. It will also provide a revitalized front plaza and increased space for installations, performances, and cultural events. Pacific Visions will be a new focal point of the Aquarium to offer visitors innovative ways to understand our connections to Earth, the World Ocean, and contemporary scientific research. The project is slated to open in spring 2019.

Who: The topping off ceremony will feature (in order of ceremony photo opportunities):

• Dr. Jerry R. Schubel, president & CEO, Aquarium of the Pacific
• Magellanic Penguin
• Dr. Robert Garcia, mayor, City of Long Beach
• Jeannine Pearce, 2nd District councilmember, City of Long Beach
• John Molina, chairman of the Aquarium of the Pacific Board of Directors
• Carlos Gonzalez, regional executive officer, Clark Construction
• Tom Farrar, senior project manager, Clark Construction

When: Tuesday, January 30, 2018, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

• 10:30 a.m. Event registration / guests sign the steel beam / pastries, coffee, and tea is served
• 11:15 a.m. Program begins
• 11:30 a.m. Construction workers raise the last steel beam above the future Pacific Visions theater using a crane
• 11:40 a.m. One-on-one interviews / tours inside the Pacific Visions space and to see a large scale sample of the bird-friendly glass façade and building model / BBQ lunch and music by guitarist
• 1:00 p.m. Event ends

Where: Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach, CA 90802
Registration will be located near the construction entrance next to the Aquarium’s front plaza and across from the Queensway Bay parking structure. Please park in that parking structure, and we will validate parking at event check-in.

Broadcast vans may park in the bus zone along the northwest side of the Aquarium. Please call 562-951-1733 (security) upon arrival for bus zone parking.

RSVP: To RSVP, please contact Marilyn Padilla at (562) 951-1684 or mpadilla@lbaop.org.