Sea Cliffs -- Department of Cultural Affairs [NYC], 1984-1992

The Aquarium’s exhibit records document the planning, design, construction, and appearance of the Aquarium’s animal facilities. The series is arranged roughly chronologically, starting with Charles Townsend’s labels from the original Battery Park Aquarium and continuing through the Sea Cliffs exhibit that opened in the early 1990s. The greatest volume of materials pertain to Sea Cliffs, but there are also files on Discovery Cove, as well as a small amount of material documenting Aquarium expansions proposed or built in the 1970s (the Whale-Dolphin stadium, wet labs for students, and early proposals for a children’s area, which eventually became Discovery Cove). The Discovery Cove and Sea Cliff files come from Louis E. Garibaldi, who was promoted from Associate Director to Director upon the passing of George D. Ruggieri in December, 1987. The earlier material, however, appears to come from a range of offices: Directors Nigrelli and Oliver, Associate Director Ruggieri, and the curatorial staff of the period (1969-1974).

The Sea Cliffs records provide a comprehensive view of the exhibit process at the Aquarium. The documents offer in-depth coverage of the planning, design, construction, and opening of the exhibit. Materials include architectural drawings, contracts and agreements, correspondence, cost estimates, field observation reports, interpretive plans, meeting minutes, opening day ephemera, press and publicity around the opening, and more. They document the Aquarium’s ongoing relationships and negotiations with New York City and with the various firms that worked on the exhibit. On a poignant note, documents pertaining to the Sea Cliffs opening day celebration note that one of the groups of school children invited to the ceremonies was comprised of 125 kindergarteners from Gravesend’s PS 95, who had been trapped in the World Trade Center during the (first) bombing a few months prior to the event.