Prince George, B.C. – The Exploration Place ( Fraser-Fort George Museum) is getting ready to make a major addition to its exhibits.

 

A new 1500 gallon fish tank that will be the new home for the museum’s sturgeon and rainbow trout, will be arriving   around the end of the month.

 

“It’s a   project that has two goals” says Exploration Place CEO Tracy Calogheros “ It will provide a better living space for the  3 sturgeon we’ve had for about 7 years, and it will allow us to tell the story of the sturgeon and get young people engaged with these very special fish.” 

 

Calogheros says young people will have an opportunity to get up close with the fish as the new tank resembles a big “donut”   with a viewing bubble ( it’s called a bullet) in the donut “hole”,    “Kids will be able to crawl under the tank, and stand up in the middle to get a close look at the fish.”

 

 

The project will cost about $100 thousand dollars,   a total that includes a contingency fund “just in case”. “The project has been budgeted for, and has received some donations from KPMG and BC Hydro, so it’s all looked after” says Calogheros. 

 

The new sturgeon tank will be 92” at its widest point, and moving it into it’s exhibit space will be a challenge. Dinosaur exhibits will have to be moved, and in at least one case that will mean a partial dismantling. But when the work is done, the  exhibit of these ancient looking sturgeon, will be a living link between the past (the dinosaur exhibit) and the living animals on display.

 

“I have learned the Lheidli T’enneh have done a lot of work on the Upper Fraser sturgeon” says Calogheros “We plan to join their story, and what the sturgeon mean to them, with the information we know about the sturgeon, so this exhibit will also link cultures.”

 

But the changing of exhibits and setting up the new tank will take some time, and that will mean the museum will have to close for a time to make the necessary changes. The plan is to close on the 28^th, and reopen to the general public on the 12^th of November. The time frame seems tight, especially when you add in that the exhibit will have to be pretty much ready in time for the Wine Festival that is being held at the museum on the 9^th of November. “We’ll make it” says Calogheros with a smile.