Tucked in the inner harbor of Baltimore, Maryland resides the National Aquarium, home to over 6,000 different animals. Since first opening in 1981, the facility has aimed to save wildlife and habitats while advocating for more sustainable policies at local, state and federal levels. Each year, the aquarium educates thousands of students that walk through their doors, all while taking care of the animals that reside within their facility.
It’s not just the animal keepers and the aquarists that keep the aquarium afloat. The facilities team plays a key role in supporting the health and well-being of the animals by ensuring that all systems related to their care function reliably and effective.
Each morning the facilities team gathers to review progress on ongoing projects, discuss the day’s scheduled work and address any issues that may have arisen overnight.
“Constant communication between the facilities team and the animal care staff is vital,” says Bill Kline, Director of Facilities at the National Aquarium. “No work, whether repair or maintenance is performed, that could impact the welfare of an animal with discussing the work with a caregiver either verbally, by email or through our work order system. The [facilities] team promptly communicates any deviations or issues to maintain a safe and stable environment for the animals.”
Most of the maintenance that is done occurs behind the scenes, and fortunately, rarely has on impact on a visitor’s experience. If work is required in a visitor’s space, projects are done before or after the aquarium’s public hours.
“Our goal is to ensure an exceptional guest experience from the moment they arrive until the moment they leave,” says Kline. “This means keeping lights on, maintaining a comfortable temperature, ensuring elevators and escalators operate smoothly, and making sure restrooms are clean and fully functional. We want guests to be focused on the amazing exhibits, fascinating animals, and meaningful interactions they enjoyed, not on facility issues.”
To help keep the aquarium running steadily, nearly every aquatic exhibit has its own filtration. Kline explains that most exhibits use sand filters and protean skimmers that are disinfected using ozone that is generated with small ozone generators that supply ozone to one small exhibit or with larger generators and pipe the ozone to larger contact cambers. Meanwhile, larger and more sensitive exhibit systems are monitored and operated through the aquarium’s building automation system. The system also comes equipped with an alarm that alerts the facilities team, life support, aquarists and curators by cell phone when conditions need attention. In addition, the facility has an emergency generator and switching system that automatically comes on in the event of a power outage.
“Depending on the system, equipment failure is handled in different ways,” Kline says. “A lot of our more critical equipment has redundant backup devices that will handle the load until the failed equipment can be repaired or replaced. If a system isn’t quite vital enough to have a redundant piece of equipment, we may have a replacement on the shelf, or a replacement may be readily available locally to repair or replace it quickly.”
There is a level of uniqueness when it comes to maintaining an aquarium, though. Kline explains that the facilities team primarily learns through experience and regularly collaborating with seasoned members of the team that have been there for several years. New hires shadow and works closely with team members to master the specific details of systems. Occasionally, the aquarium will work with outside contractors to assist with specialized systems that go beyond in-house capabilities.
“Next time you visit an aquarium or zoo, take a moment to notice the areas beyond the exhibits and consider the effort it takes to keep them in such excellent condition,” Kline says. “If you have a positive experience, let a staff member know—we all take great pride in our facilities, and we truly appreciate when guests notice our work.”
The National Aquarium is located mere blocks from the Baltimore convention center where NFMT is taking place March 25-27.
Mackenna Moralez is the associate editor of the facilities market and the host of the Facilities in Focus podcast.
