Basel: Development plan for Ozeanium approved
Basel Zoo is one step further with its major Ozeanium project. The Grand Council of the Canton of Basel-Stadt approved the development plan by 69 votes to 13.
The Ozeanium is a large aquarium that the Basel Zoo wants to realize on the site of the Basel Heuwaage according to plans by Boltshauser Architekten. On an area of 10,000 square meters, around 40 aquariums with water levels of up to eight meters are to present sharks, rays, penguins, corals as well as intertidal and deep-sea inhabitants, among others.
The Ozeanium will cost CHF 100 million and, like all of the zoo's projects, is to be financed by private donations and the zoo's own funds. According to a statement from the zoo, around sixty percent of the Ozeanium had been financed before the Grand Council decision.
As things stand, construction is scheduled to begin in 2021, with the opening planned for 2024. However, according to media reports, the Green Alliance and other environmental activists want to initiate a referendum against the large-scale project. (ah)
