Atlantic City Aquarium will reopen in coming months with expanded touch tanks, officials said

ATLANTIC CITY — Groman the loggerhead sea turtle may finally be getting visitors again.

The little Atlantic City Aquarium, a signature attraction that has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic, is finally on the verge of reopening, city officials said this week.

The city had hoped to reopen the popular aquarium, located at the historic and picturesque Gardner’s Basin part of A.C. in July, and then September, but supply chain and funding issues prevented that, officials said.

Now, the city is optimistic that the aquarium will be back open sometime in December.

“This aquarium, it’s a gem,” said Uzoma Ahiarakwe, the city’s director of engineering. “It’s an area of the city that literally has a lot of possibilities.”

He said the final product will be an aquarium that “can compete with any other aquarium in any other city.”

City officials, stung by this summer’s cancellation of the A.C. Airshow and the lack of beach concerts, gave a tour this week to the media to show off the aquarium’s improvements and to tout new exhibits, including a completely rebuilt second floor with expanded touch tanks. “More things you can touch and learn about,” Sarita Stroud, the aquarist and aquarium manager, told reporters.

Work on the exterior, including new signage and decking, and the interior of the aquarium, including new lighting and a new entry mural, is nearing the end, officials said. The renovations drew on funds from the American Rescue Plan.

In addition, city officials said $1.4 million in grant funding would be used to demolish the existing seawall bathroom attached to the aquarium, which has not been open for several years and which Mayor Marty Small Sr. called an eyesore. They plan to build a new bathroom facility for public use in time for next summer.

The seawall at Gardner’s Basin is a popular fishing spot located at the end of a newly rebuilt Boardwalk path stretching around the inlet that separates Atlantic City and Brigantine.

» READ MORE: Fish Heads food truck evicted from Gardner's Basin over state Green Acres regulations

Officials said other projects completed in recent months at Gardner’s Basin include “pier and piling replacement, dredging, new lighting and signage throughout the basin and improvements to the parking areas and sidewalks and EV charging stations.”

The city hopes to complete additional projects, including improvements to the maintenance building, security camera improvements, and centralizing trash collection.

These projects are all anticipated to get underway no later than this spring, officials said.

In addition to the aquarium, the Gardner’s Basin area includes two restaurants, Gilchrist and the Back Bay Ale House, and space for community concerts and other events. It no longer includes the popular food truck, Fish Heads.