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St. Louis Aquarium’s Thousands Of Fish Have Had Nearly 100,000 Human Visitors In Just 2 Weeks

Clockwise from upper left, the Drake family observes an open-air demonstration by a staff member at the St. Louis Aquarium, piranha swim inside their enclosed habitat and visitors explore the free Conservation & Education Center connected to the aquarium.
Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio
Clockwise from upper left, the Drake family observes an open-air demonstration by a staff member at the St. Louis Aquarium, piranha swim inside their enclosed habitat and visitors explore the free Conservation & Education Center connected to the aquarium.

The St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station opened with a big splash on Christmas Day. Thousands of area residents have been streaming through its gates in the two weeks since, and aquarium staff have had to turn some families away due to sellout crowds.

From left, Tami Brown and Aaron Sprowl joined Tuesday's program.
Credit Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio
From left, Tami Brown and Aaron Sprowl joined Tuesday's program.

For executive director Tami Brown, that's been the only downside of an otherwise successful launch of the new downtown destination. Many visitors have expressed excitement about their experiences, staff have been enthusiastic about their interactions with visitors and animals, and the marine species that  now call the aquarium home seem to be adapting well.

On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, Brown joined host Sarah Fenske for a deeper dive into the new activity at Union Station. Joining the conversation was St. Louis Aquarium curator Aaron Sprowl, who discussed the wide-ranging creatures and their transition to a new space. The segment included an audio tour of the aquarium, first impressions from children and adults alike, and plenty of questions from listeners who called into the show.

Take a listen:

St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill and Lara Hamdan. The engineer is Aaron Doerr, and production assistance is provided by Charlie McDonald.

Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org.

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Evie Hemphill joined the St. Louis on the Air team in February 2018. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature in 2005, she started her career as a reporter for the Westminster Window in Colorado. Several years later she went on to pursue graduate work in creative writing at the University of Wyoming and moved to St. Louis upon earning an MFA in the spring of 2010. She worked as writer and editor for Washington University Libraries until 2014 and then spent several more years in public relations for the University of Missouri–St. Louis before making the shift to St. Louis Public Radio.