A little teaching aquarium in Sidney faces closure within 2 years if staff and volunteers can't raise funds for upgrades and improvements.
Constant exposure to salt water over the past 9 years has taken its toll on the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea.
Executive Director, Pauline Finn, says the 35-hundred sea creatures that live in the centre need upgraded systems:
" You can imagine the pumps and the infrastructure required to keep over 3-thousand animals healthy and happy. And so that's where it comes in, because that reinvestment hasn't happened, we're finding ourselves at this point in time in our life that we really need to do a lot to make sure everything is running well."
Finn says the centre has been running a deficit for a few years, and has been dipping into reserves -- but now they are seeking a major financial commitment from the town of Sidney....requesting double the $65-thousand they normally get this year -- and more than tripling it every year after that.
" That ask is about making sure we're not in this precarious position with our infrastructure again. And it's genuinely also about every other year or so reinvesting in visitor experience and doing more awesome stuff."
70,000 visitors, including school children, learn about the creatures of the Salish Sea at the centre every year.
Finn says the centre has a goal to become world class, and has submitted a 10 year plan to Sidney council for consideration.