SCOTTSDALE

Get a sneak peek inside OdySea Aquarium near Scottsdale

Parker Leavitt
The Republic | azcentral.com
On July 18, 2016, a view of the OdySea Aquarium in the OdySea in the Desert entertainment complex on the Salt River Reservation. The 200,000-square-foot aquarium is set to open around Labor Day.

Penguins, otters, sea lions and more than 500 other species of marine life will soon find a home in the Arizona desert as the OdySea Aquarium prepares to open in September along Loop 101 near Scottsdale.

The 2 million-gallon aquarium, which will cost more than $100 million, will be among the largest in the nation, surpassing major aquariums in Houston, Seattle, San Francisco and New Orleans.

The privately-owned, for-profit aquarium hopes to open around Labor Day, developer Amram Knishinsky told The Republic during an exclusive tour of the facility July 18. Construction crews are busily sculpting the aquarium's touch pools and flooding tanks with water.

"We are the largest metropolitan area in America without a big aquarium," said Knishinsky, who has lived in the Valley for 40 years. "We deserve to have an aquarium in the desert, where we don't have access to water and these species. The people here deserve to learn about marine life like every other part of the country."

OdySea Aquarium will be part of a larger entertainment complex called OdySea in the Desert, which will feature several anchor attractions around a ring of international shops and restaurants. Other attractions include Butterfly Wonderland and Dolphinaris, which has stirred controversy for its plans to bring captive dolphins to the desert. Dolphinaris is a separately owned company that is a tenant in the complex, which is controlled by OdySea.

There are two smaller aquariums in the Phoenix area: SeaLife Aquarium at Arizona Mills mall in Tempe and Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium in the West Valley. SeaLife is about 26,000 square feet, and Wildlife World Zoo's aquarium holds about 225,000 gallons.

OdySea Aquarium, located at Via de Ventura and Loop 101 on the Salt River Reservation east of Scottsdale, will be comparable in size to California's famed Monterey Bay Aquarium, the National Aquarium in Baltimore and Adventure Aquarium in Camden, N.J., which serves Greater Philadelphia.

While Knishinsky gave The Republic an extensive behind-the-scenes glimpse of the facility, one construction area was kept off-limits — an exhibit called "Living Sea" that he's holding as a surprise until the opening. Here are eight key facts about the aquarium we learned on the tour:

1. How much will it cost?

Daily admission likely will cost about $35 for adults and $25 for children, Knishinsky said. The company is selling lifetime memberships at $675 for an individual or $1,575 for a family of three ($200 for each additional child). Annual memberships also are available at about $150 for an adult or $400 for a family of four.

OdySea Aquarium has sold nearly 10,000 memberships so far, Knishinsky said.

2. How much water will it use?

The aquarium will hold about 2 million gallons of fresh and salt water and expects to use about 4 million gallons per year to replenish that supply, Knishinsky said. That's roughly the same amount of water used by 27 households over a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The water will be purchased from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Knishinsky said.

The shark display, at the OdySea Aquarium in the OdySea in the Desert entertainment complex on the Salt River Reservation, on July 18, 2016.

3. Visitors can feed the penguins, touch the otters

OdySea Aquarium promises to bring visitors closer to the animals than its rivals, offering the chance to feed African penguins or touch an otter. Those encounters are included in general admission. For an additional charge, a guest can don a wet suit and helmet before entering a 250,000-gallon tank filled with fish, sharks and more than 70 Hawaiian rays in an experience called SeaTrek.

4. Owners aim for 2 million visitors in first year

The aquarium is designed to hold up to 15,000 guests per day, and the owners are hoping to attract between 1.8 million and 2 million visitors in the first year. That's on par with other major U.S. aquariums. Monterey Bay Aquarium welcomed about 2.1 million visitors in 2015.

5. Aquarium is a 3-hour experience

Visitors will begin at the aquarium's fresh-water exhibits, following the journey of a raindrop as it moves through rivers, lakes and ultimately into the ocean. The entire experience is expected to take about three hours and ends at the aquarium's gift shop. The aquarium boasts more than 50 exhibits and will hold about 20,000 animals, including several species of sharks inside a 400,000-gallon tank.

The gift shop of the OdySea Aquarium in the OdySea in the Desert entertainment complex, on theSalt River Reservation on July 18, 2016.

6. Animatronics bring presentations to life

Aquarium officials claim their use of "theme-park technology" will bring a unique element to presentations. Instead an employee talking about penguins, for example, OdySea will use two robotic penguins — a young male named Pip and his mother Polly — to educate visitors, Knishinsky said. Another exhibit will use iPads to let visitors explore various rivers of the world and learn about the types of marine life found there.

7. OdySea's 3-D movie gives a glimpse of larger creatures

OdySea Aquarium paid for a 3-D movie filmed exclusively for its theater, which is also included in general admission. Visitors can watch a 10-minute movie called "Giants of the Ocean" for a glimpse at whales and other large marine creatures not at the aquarium. The film was produced by MacGillivray Freeman, which has made giant-screen movies for cultural attractions across the country, including the Smithsonian Institution.

8. Restaurant features a 28-foot lighthouse

Outside the aquarium, about a dozen restaurants will eventually await hungry visitors, but the aquarium will also have its own eatery. The Lighthouse Cafe features a 28-foot lighthouse, outdoor patio dining with views of the McDowell Mountains and a design that includes 80 to 100 ocean-related movie posters and 72-inch televisions showing aerial views of lighthouses around the world.

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