The Montreal Aquarium, also known as the Alcan Aquarium, was a public aquarium on St. Helen's Island, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Built for the 1967 World's Fair (Expo 67), the two-building site operated for nearly a quarter of a century in La Ronde before shutting down in 1991. The main aquarium building was demolished in 1997, but the pool building still remains. Apart from a brief re-purposing as a video game center, it has been vacant ever since.
The Montreal Aquarium in 1967 (Alcan Pavillion buildings: Marine Circus & Main Aquarium)
The Expo pavilion was originally sponsored by Alcan Aluminum Ltd., who built the site as a joint venture with the City of Montreal and the Zoological Society of Montreal. The two buildings that made up the site were known as the Alcan Pavilion. The main aquarium building featured penguin pools, exhibits space and a gift shop. The separate dolphin pool building, the Alcan Marine Circus, had a 900-seat auditorium, show pool and holding tanks.
The city planned in 1988 to move the aquarium to a more popular location at the Old Port, but the plan did not come through when the city was mired in recession in the early 1990s.
On September 15, 1991, the aquarium officially closed. Most of its exhibits were transferred to the Biodome.
The main aquarium building was demolished, leaving just the former dolphin pool building.
Animal abuse incidentsedit
In February 1980, blue-collar workers enacted a 41-day workers' strike, refusing to enter the aquarium to feed or care for its dolphins. Abandoned by their trainers, and left to starve in isolation, 3 dolphins died as a result of the neglect.[1] The surviving dolphins were sold to Flipper's Sea School, a roadside dolphin attraction in Florida. The already failing aquarium received even more negative publicity, and Montreal lost its right to care for any dolphins in captivity going forward, an international embarrassment for the city.
After its closure in 1991, even further negativity came about for the city and in larger part the province of Quebec (infamous for its long standing cases of animal cruelty), when the media discovered the aquarium, unable to sell its sharks, made a decision to inhumanly kill them off by barbaric means (in one failed kill attempt, a sledgehammer was used to finish off the already suffering shark).[2]
Nintendo Mégadôme (1995–2006)edit
The Nintendo Mégadôme opened inside the former aquarium pool space in 1995.[3] Operating for over a decade, it was a Nintendo-sponsored video game center with the then-latest Nintendo video games and attractions. It closed in 2006. The former dolphin pool building it occupied now belongs to La Ronde, and today remains vacant and closed off from the public. The very small segment corner that remains of the main aquarium building (formely used as a food concessions stand) is now used as a Pass Building: "Zone Groupes - Route 67".
Referencesedit
^Dr François Lubrina. (in French). Vetérinet. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-12-27.
montreal, aquarium, also, known, alcan, aquarium, public, aquarium, helen, island, montreal, quebec, canada, built, 1967, world, fair, expo, building, site, operated, nearly, quarter, century, ronde, before, shutting, down, 1991, main, aquarium, building, demo. The Montreal Aquarium also known as the Alcan Aquarium was a public aquarium on St Helen s Island in Montreal Quebec Canada Built for the 1967 World s Fair Expo 67 the two building site operated for nearly a quarter of a century in La Ronde before shutting down in 1991 The main aquarium building was demolished in 1997 but the pool building still remains Apart from a brief re purposing as a video game center it has been vacant ever since The Montreal Aquarium in 1967 Alcan Pavillion buildings Marine Circus amp Main Aquarium Contents 1 History 1 1 Montreal Aquadome 1967 1991 1 2 Animal abuse incidents 1 3 Nintendo Megadome 1995 2006 2 References 3 External linksHistory editMontreal Aquadome 1967 1991 edit The Expo pavilion was originally sponsored by Alcan Aluminum Ltd who built the site as a joint venture with the City of Montreal and the Zoological Society of Montreal The two buildings that made up the site were known as the Alcan Pavilion The main aquarium building featured penguin pools exhibits space and a gift shop The separate dolphin pool building the Alcan Marine Circus had a 900 seat auditorium show pool and holding tanks The city planned in 1988 to move the aquarium to a more popular location at the Old Port but the plan did not come through when the city was mired in recession in the early 1990s On September 15 1991 the aquarium officially closed Most of its exhibits were transferred to the Biodome The main aquarium building was demolished leaving just the former dolphin pool building Animal abuse incidents edit In February 1980 blue collar workers enacted a 41 day workers strike refusing to enter the aquarium to feed or care for its dolphins Abandoned by their trainers and left to starve in isolation 3 dolphins died as a result of the neglect 1 The surviving dolphins were sold to Flipper s Sea School a roadside dolphin attraction in Florida The already failing aquarium received even more negative publicity and Montreal lost its right to care for any dolphins in captivity going forward an international embarrassment for the city After its closure in 1991 even further negativity came about for the city and in larger part the province of Quebec infamous for its long standing cases of animal cruelty when the media discovered the aquarium unable to sell its sharks made a decision to inhumanly kill them off by barbaric means in one failed kill attempt a sledgehammer was used to finish off the already suffering shark 2 Nintendo Megadome 1995 2006 edit The Nintendo Megadome opened inside the former aquarium pool space in 1995 3 Operating for over a decade it was a Nintendo sponsored video game center with the then latest Nintendo video games and attractions It closed in 2006 The former dolphin pool building it occupied now belongs to La Ronde and today remains vacant and closed off from the public The very small segment corner that remains of the main aquarium building formely used as a food concessions stand is now used as a Pass Building Zone Groupes Route 67 References edit Dr Francois Lubrina La fin pitoyable et tragique des dauphins de Montreal in French Veterinet Archived from the original on 2011 07 24 Retrieved 2009 12 27 https www worldfairs info forum viewtopic php t 2846 aquarium alcan spacemtfan June 10 2016 The Vampire of Montreal Part 18 of the Inverted Coaster Serie ParkVault Retrieved August 2 2018 External links editNintendo Megadome in English Photo and floor plan linked 45 30 26 N 73 34 47 W 45 50722 N 73 57972 W 45 50722 73 57972 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Montreal Aquarium amp oldid 1192132073, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
