Reopening Date Announced for Audubon Aquarium in New Orleans

Last year many Louisiana residents were a bit surprised to learn that one of New Orleans's leading attractions would be closing. Fortunately, this wasn't the kind of closing that is permanent, this was a temporary closure for good reason. That good reason was renovation and refurbishment and the attraction in question is the New Orleans Audubon Aquarium.

The attraction has been closed for several months now and those close to the situation say the reopening is a little over a month away. As of now, the plan is to allow guests and visitors back inside the Audubon Aquarium will on June 8th. And from what we understand the aquarium you once knew will be even better than before.

One of the biggest changes that guests will notice right off the bat is a new 2,500-square-foot lobby area. The lobby area will be enclosed with a glass curtain wall. The glass curtain is constructed so as not to be dangerous to birds. You will also notice that the facilities IMAX theater is no longer there.

The IMAX space is now home to the insectarium. This includes an awe-inspiring butterfly garden. Both the insectarium and butterfly garden were previously housed in the United States Customs Building which was a few blocks away. Those exhibits are now on the same campus as all the fish and wildlife.

Parakeet Point has also been replaced. That exhibit space will house an Amazon Rainforest Gallery. In that exhibit, guests will walk among 15 different species of birds that are allowed to fly freely within the exhibit space. There are also improvements and changes being made to the Mississippi River Gallery and the Top of the Gulf Experience.

Again the anticipated reopening date for the $41 million dollar renovations at the Audubon Aquarium is planned for June 8th.