Virginia Beach may start planning to rebuild the Virginia Aquarium

TheVirginiaAquariumbuildingisreachingtheendofitsusablelifeanditmightbetimeforthecityofVirginiaBeachtorebuildit. VirginiaBeachprojectsspendingabout$28milliononmaintenanceattheaquariuminthenextsixyears,butDeputyCityManagerKenChandler’spresentationalsosaidthecityshouldstartplanningforafullrebuild. “What’skeyhereis,aswe’vementionedafewtimesbefore,ifwe’redoingtherepairwork,we’regoingtobuyourselvesprobablyeightto10years,hopefully,”Chandlersaid.“Ifwe’retalkingaboutnewfacilitydesignandconstructionthroughthisprocess,that’saseven-yearprocesstocomplete.Sothere’snotalotoftimeorleewaythere.” Whencounciloriginallyheardabouttheaquarium’sneededrepairsin2023,oneofthemosturgentwastankreplacementsforanimalsafety.Duringapresentationthisweek,Chandlersaidseals,sharksandturtletanksstill“requirepromptattention.” Citycouncildidn’tcommittoarebuildoratimeline,butstartinganaquariumreconstruc