NEWPORT, Ore. — Home to 15,000 animals, the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport heavily relies on donations and ticket sales to operate. Since shutting down in mid-March due to COVID-19, the aquarium estimates a $3 million revenue loss and has had to furlough 80% of its staff.
The nonprofit opened in 1992 and draws more than 400,000 people each year.
“Right now, we would be seeing 1,400 to 1,500 visitors a day,” said marketing director Julie Woodward.
Currently, many remaining employees are working from home, and those still coming into the building are working hard to take care of all the animals.
In addition to closing the facility to visitors, the aquarium canceled all volunteer shifts. Typically, nearly 100 volunteers help with things like cleaning tanks. Employees are now picking up those duties.
“Our team, the fish and invertebrate team, we have nine people trying to do the work of many. We are in our tanks scrubbing, cleaning, diving and doing things that would normally be a shared responsibility with others,” said Evonne Mochon Collura.
The aquarium was able to secure a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan earlier this spring, which is helping pay furloughed employees for two months.
Woodward hopes to reopen by mid or late-June, but it will look different for visitors.
“We will have a one-way path through the aquarium. There will be a few areas that will be closed because they're high-touch areas. One is our touch pool, which is very popular, but of course you can understand why we could close that. One is our kids play area,” she said.
Even though things will look different, Woodward said staff and the animals can’t wait to welcome visitors back.
“We will reopen and there will become a day when things are back to whatever the new normal will look like, and we are really excited to have people come back and visit,” she said.
If you would like to donate to the Aquarium’s Emergency Operating Fund, you can learn more here. You can also help by purchasing a membership, which is good for one year from the date of reopening.
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