That was completely different than the fillers. It did overflow. We had a bunch of old-time engineers who did their job. They grease the Zerk fittings and they did those menial jobs. But the new computerized tank was just too much for them. And one night, I guess they went… Read More
But years later, the marble flooring around the coral reef and the rotunda started coming loose. And that seawater had gotten down in between there and broke up all the mortar underneath. So we had to take up the entire marble floor and replace it. So that came back to… Read More
So that we were gonna buy these filters from a company, I hope they’re not listening because they might come back in to sue us. I think it was out in Oregon. And I said we can build those things ourselves. We can go to Chicago tank, Chicago bridge and… Read More
You were able to keep the water in there all the time, never overflow?… Read More
Oh, well. Read More
Well, these microfloc filters were built like that from the bottom up, but then they were reversed. So you had them fines on fines and then medium and then big ones. Well, the problem comes when you backwash your filters with a large, medium-fine stuff, you backwash at twice the… Read More
And then I don’t know what comes next. I think it was charcoal and then big chunks so that when you turn off your backwash rate, everything in the bottom settles according to specific size and weight, but then the top ones realign according to the specific gravity, so that… Read More
So the advantage of this is that you’re taking out the big chunks first, instead of having the big chunks clog up the fines on the bottom, right?… Read More
Yes, as a matter of fact, that was the first major fundraising we had. And we did not have anybody on board as far as the department goes at that time. The board members just kind of got together, and they did that. And they had a lot of naysayers… Read More
Look what we did. That’s fine, they did it. So the coral reef was this grand exhibit that opened up. Read More
Were there any problems with it?… Read More
Well, there’s always problems when you open up a new exhibit, in trying to find suitable decorations in there. We had, I believe it was Richard Rush Studios do a lot of the false corals and sea fans and that sort of thing. Operation wise, it was a big jump… Read More
When did you begin fundraising?… Read More
Again, my memory is foggy on that, but I think shortly after I was appointed director, and that was in the mid 1960s. Read More
Was that for coral reef?… Read More
And as a course, as they went along and then as now, there were cost overruns, and they needed another quarter of a million dollars. And that’s big money back in the late twenties. So Mr shed’s daughters then came up with the extra money to build it. And there… Read More
And we still have that principle, which has increased in value. Oh, and the other stipulation was the money had to be kept in government bonds. And I think at that time were paying 1%. So you can imagine how much that produce. But eventually then the board and the… Read More
And the souvenir counter, that was a wash. As a matter of fact, it may have been a deficit as far as I know. But that souvenir sales were pretty meager in those days. So that’s how the aquarium got its… And at 25 cents a person and an attendance… Read More
So then the pot got split nine ways instead of six ways. When I was there, the Planetarium was not in the mix because it was supported entirely by the Park District. But then the Planetarium ask if they could get in. They brought their own financing with them, but… Read More
(indistinct chatter) How did the Shedd Aquarium get its money in the beginning?… Read More