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Roundhouse closes next week for half million dollar fix-up
by Jerry Roberts
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Roundhouse Head aquarist Jose Bacallao and Education Director Kecia Joy display a small sharks from the Manhattan Beach Pier facility’s Shark Tank. Photo by Jerry Roberts |
The Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab and Aquarium at the end of Manhattan Beach Pier will be punched up in real roundhouse fashion with half a million dollars in renovations. The landmark building will get a new look, new aquariums and a refurbished infrastructure.
The fish and other animals in the exhibits will be moved to S.E.A. Lab in Redondo Beach after the Nov. 5 shutdown and be returned to the partly renovated Roundhouse in January, according to Kecia Joy, the Roundhouse’s education director.
The animals will return and facility will reopen for its peak attendance months of February through August. It will be shut down again in September to complete the renovations, which will include new exhibit tanks, entrances, windows, and floors. A new electrical system and pump room will cut down on the white noise and heat from running the tanks. A new carpet and cabinets will be installed, office and teaching equipment bought, lighting systems upgraded and the mezzanine will expanded.
The Roundhouse’s popular shark tank will be rebuilt for $75,000 with half of that coming in a donation from Chevron Companies. A tank containing rays and skates that students can touch will be a new exhibit.
The Roundhouse, which is operated by Oceanographic Teaching Stations, a nonprofit corporation overseen by a Manhattan Beach board of directors, received a $400,000 grant from the State of California Resources Department of Parks and Recreation through a program called Grants for Locally Operated Units of the State Parks System.
The $400,000 is earmarked to fix the physical facility only under the title Manhattan State Beach Pier Roundhouse Rehabilitaion. The Roundhouse’s concrete and wood structure has been eroded by the salt air and pounding waves for generations, and the constant movement of the pier has depleted the building’s strength.
Another $100,000 was earmarked for the facility through the efforts of state Sen. Debra Bowen, who attached the Roundhouse’s needs as a line item in the state budget.
"This is the most exciting phase for me," said Joy, who has run educational programs on the ecological balance in Santa Monica Bay for nine years at the Roundhouse. "This is incredible — a dream come true for me."
This weekend, the end of the pier will be turned into a haunted Roundhouse, a "spooky marine-themed haunted house" as Joy put it, to celebrate Halloween. The fund-raising event to benefit the facility is sponsored by Chevron. Older children and adults can check out the exhibits from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 5:30 to 8 p.m. Sunday while younger kids and parents can see the less scarier exhibit from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. ER