Belle Isle Aquarium

· Built in 1904 in conjunction with adjacent Conservatory  

· Lead architect: Albert Kahn  

· Continued restoration by Belle Isle Conservancy volunteers  

· Over 1000 fish and 100 species  

· Outdoor Koi pond  

· Hours: Temporarily closed per Covid restrictions
(Normally Sat - Sun, 10am to 4pm)  
(Summer hours: Fri - Sun, 10am to 4pm)  

· Volunteer opportunities!  

Next: 
> Walk to the Conservatory entrance next door


Transcript
The Belle Isle Aquarium was the first public aquarium to open in the United States. On its opening day in 1904, it was celebrated as the finest aquarium the world had ever seen!  It took 3 years to construct and was completed in conjunction with the adjacent Conservatory.

Renowned Detroit architect Albert Khan was the lead designer. The Aquarium’s Beaux Art style entryway is decorated with a stone facade embellished with spitting fish, cascading water, Neptune’s effigy, and the emblem of the City of Detroit. On the inside, it’s curved ceilings and central dome are lined with green opaline glass tiles to simulate an underwater cavern. Its tanks contain both freshwater and saltwater species. When the aquarium first opened, water was trucked in all the way from the Atlantic ocean to fill the saltwater exhibits!

After a seven year closure due to the city’s financial pinch, the Aquarium finally reopened in 2012 through diligent efforts of the Belle Isle Conservancy and its hard-working volunteers. Most of the tanks are now restocked with almost a thousand fish of more than a hundred species. With newly acquired funding and generous volunteer stewardship, the Aquarium continues to improve  with every passing year.

An outdoor lily pond, also known as the Koi Pond, is located between the aquarium and conservatory. Among the water lilies you’ll find Koi and Goldfish of various sizes and coloring.

Make sure you visit the exhibits inside! There’s lots of fascinating aquatic life to see and learn about, including an electric eel that puts on its own little show at feeding time! There is also a gift shop located just off the entryway. Aquarium hours are shown on the description screen in this app and admission is free!