Portland Aquarium, 603 SW Broadway, is closing on Sunday, Oct. 4, but there’s still time to visit the artist Mike Bennett’s animal-free cartoon aquarium at the Cascadia Marine Lab.
Expect to discover over 300 sea creatures from aboard this “submarine,” where jellyfish and beluga whales come to life with a bit of imagination.
Using an explorer’s field guide, budding marine biologists can identify and spot various types of stingrays, sharks and sardines as they move through the exhibit halls and peek through the portals.
General admission to Portland Aquarium is $14; kids 12 and under $10; kids 2 and under are free. Open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. every day except Tuesday.
A new art-focused Mike Bennett creation will open after the aquarium closes.
I sure miss the days not that many years ago (maybe 20) when that space was used for high-end retail as it was designed and intended. The multi-story, flagship Banana Republic was great until it slowly shrunk in size a bit at a time until it finally closed. A quirky art exhibit is certainly better than a vacant storefront, of course, but it's just another example of a changing downtown. How Mario's still remains in business I don't know.