National Marine Aquarium of Canada
Attraction Type: Exhibit
Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario
Years Operational: 1970-1996
Designer(s): ?
The National Marine Aquarium of Canada was located at the intersection of Buchanan (present day Fallsview Blvd.) and Portage Rd., next to the Heritage Tower (later Royal Inn, Royal Centre, Panasonic, and then Minolta Tower.) It opened in July of 1970 after Arthur White (owner of the Burning Springs Wax Museum and Waltzing Waters attractions also in the Tower complex) had purchased the Tower next door in full the same year after co-owning it since 1966. The Aquarium was constructed in the former World of Shops mall connected to the Tower. The addition was originally also meant to include two massive high-rise hotels, a mini golf course between the Aquarium and Portage Rd., and also a new World of Shops across the street. While the Aquarium, mini golf, and the relocated World of Shops would be constructed, the hotels would never materialize.
Artist's rendering of the original plan for the tower's remodel with the hotels. The Aquarium would be completed however, and opened appearing as it does at the left in this rendering.
The Aquarium would be somewhat forward-thinking compared to many of the marine life attractions and parks at the time (one particularly infamous park local to Niagara comes to mind), placing an emphasis on education and animal care. An offer would run in 1971 for children in grades 2-8 to receive a complimentary copy of the New Book of Knowledge encyclopedia upon visiting the attraction, which could be returned or purchased after a 21 day period. Arthur White even referred to the Aquarium as his "shrine to the sea."
The Aquarium in the 1980's.
The Aquarium would feature six 100,000 gallon tanks on the first floor, each containing a different show. The tanks housed porpoises, penguins (and their own refrigerated iceberg), sea lions brought in from California, dolphins from Cape Coral Gardens, a replica of an 80 ton sperm whale, and even the world's largest (at the time) exhibit of sharks which were brought in from Jerry Klay's Sharkarium in Key West, Florida. An animatronic wax figure of a diver was placed in the shark tank, an addition that may have come from the Waxattract company who White had hired to work on his other attractions such as Waltzing Waters, the Burning Springs Wax Museum, Movieland Wax Museum and possibly even his Crystal Beach Wax Museum. An early 80's Enter-Tech (formerly Waxattract) brochure lists a mysterious attraction named "Ocean World" in the company's portfolio. While unconfirmed, it's possible this was the Aquarium's working title (or later title in the 80's) and this is the attraction the brochure is referencing.
None of the animals in the attraction were human trained, instead the show was them behaving as if they were in their natural habitat, with enrichment provided to simulate them being in the wild. This practice was incredibly humane for the time, and is the same morality modern zoos and wildlife sanctuaries attempt to incorporate. This is the same reason why the attraction opted for the whale replica rather than housing small whale species like orcas or belugas, at a time when whale captivity wasn't even viewed as wrong by the general public yet. The first floor would conclude with a walk through a hallway of small tanks containing saltwater fish, sea life and reptiles, including a 14-foot alligator.
The alligator in it's above-water habitat above it's tank, 1985.
The arcade (silver roof) and theatre (square building) to the left of it, behind the Aquarium, 1980's.
The second floor would begin with 15 medium-sized 10,000 gallon tanks containing a variety of ocean species, followed by an exhibit of animals from each of the Canadian provinces. The second floor would conclude with viewing platforms allowing guests to look down upon the six large tanks on the first floor, as well as the above water-habitats surrounding each of them. There was also a lecture room where a professor would give 20 minute lectures to school groups visiting the attraction. White would end up selling the Tower to Royal Inns Canada in 1971, however he would continue to own and operate his other attractions in the complex. In 1972, Royal Inns Canada would go bankrupt, and ownership of the Tower would revert back to White and the Bolus family who owned the actual buildings and land the attractions were on. Around this time, a small theatre and an arcade were constructed in buildings behind the Aquarium in former parking lot space, with the new parking replacing the mini golf, however both were torn down in the early 90's.
While Arthur White himself was doing well expanding his footprint in the tourism industry, the Tower complex was not, and the Aquarium was perhaps facing the most intensive problems. Despite the good intentions behind the attraction and it's respect for animals, as we now know as we've learned more about marine life, keeping complex animals such as porpoises and dolphins in captivity isn't exactly ideal, regardless of how much care or space you give them. The attraction originally had four dolphins, but by 1974, it had none. One died after it's stomach valve became blocked due to swallowing a rubber children's toy a guest threw into the tank. The other three died of natural causes: liver disease, tuberculosis, and old age. In 1972, Washington passed the Marine Mammals Act, placing a ban on the export of marine mammals to other countries, Canada included. It was meant to stop marine parks, carnivals, side shows and other dubious operators from being able to abuse animals for entertainment, as operators of many travelling marine shows would simply kill the animals at the end of the season and get new ones the next year as it was cheaper than caring for them over the winter. While White supported the act's ideals and had a strong distaste for these kinds of operations (hence the whole moral ideal behind the Aquarium in the first place) he mentions in a 1975 newspaper article that it also made it hard for legitimate aquariums and zoos to obtain marine mammals.
Dolphins Heckle and Jeckle, who arrived at the Aquarium in 1975.
Sale of the complex in 1976. From left to right: Mr. Shimizu and his wife, Arthur White, and Mayor George Bukator.
The same article states he had been in negotiations for 11 months with the U.S. National Fisheries Department explaining the humane nature of the attraction, attempting to get special permission to bring two Gulf Coast dolphins and a California sea lion to Niagara. He didn't purchase them, but leased them for the 1975 season from Marine Animals Productions of Mississippi. It's likely the U.S. either eventually decided he wasn't allowed to buy them outright, or the $50,000 annual lease proved too much, as the attraction was part of White's 1976 sale of the Tower complex to Takeshi Shimizu, including the Tower, Aquarium and Burning Springs Wax Museum, with White only retaining the Waltzing Waters fountain. It's unlikely the attraction ever received new mammals after this point.
Shimizu unfortunately couldn't make the complex run efficiently either despite his high hopes, leading to the sale of it once again in 1981 to the Bolus family. The Aquarium would take a back seat in the 80's compared to other more exciting attractions in the area, and was documented very little during this time. It was demolished sometime in 1996 to little fanfare, with the massive Embassy Suites sitting on the land today. A sad ending to the story of an attraction with good intentions and clever design that ended up being outlived by the very kind of thing it was attempting to morally outdo. The irony is, Marineland down the road continues to operate to this day...
The cleared land around the Tower in the late 90's. The towering Marriot Fallsview and Embassy Suites would soon replace the former wax museum and aquarium.