McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. broke ground Nov. 2 on a new aquarium at St. Louis Union Station in downtown St. Louis. St. Louis-based PGAV Destinations will be the designer.
The 120,000-square-foot St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station will be located in the former mall area and will feature exhibits and tanks with 1.3 million gallons of water housing thousands of aquatic animals from the rivers and oceans of the world.
Construction of the aquarium is expected to be completed in the summer of 2019.
During construction, the project will create 500 jobs and once operational, will bring more than 100 permanent jobs to the downtown St. Louis area.
McCarthy brings extensive experience in hospitality and entertainment construction, including the 200,000-square-foot OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale, Arizona, the largest aquarium in the Southwest, and expansion to the St. Louis Gateway Arch Visitor Center and Museum at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in downtown St. Louis.