Aquarium in New Jersey is up for ‘best in the nation’ honors

You may not remember Camden’s Adventure Aquarium being anything other than the first-class facility it is today. There was a time when it was awful.

It was first known as the Thomas H. Kean New Jersey State Aquarium. It opened in a virtually abandoned area and was made of cast concrete in drab colors with unappealing row of tanks, virtually no graphics, and under a cavernous rotunda that made everything sound echoey and hollow.

Even the fish were boring. Originally, they used only species from the immediate area of New Jersey and these native creatures were mainly gray and mean in color. Attendance plummeted not long after opening.

Fast forward through a lot of turmoil and change to 2007 when it reopened as Adventure Aquarium with a new design and they’ve never looked back.

Today it stands as one of the jewels of New Jersey with their penguin exhibit, shark tunnel, Nile hippos, giant ocean tank and so much more.

Now it’s being recognized for its greatness and is up for a vote for the title of one of the 10 Best Aquariums in the USA. This is being done by USA Today in their 10 Best Reader’s Choice Awards

The competition is fierce. Adventure Aquarium is only one of twenty aquariums around the country being nominated. They need every vote they can get to give New Jersey some much needed recognition.

You can vote here.

You’re allowed to vote once a day every day up until Monday, May 13. Then the ten winners will be announced on Wednesday, May 22.

Among our aquarium’s competition are the Maui Ocean Center in Hawaii, Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, and Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. If you want to put New Jersey's Adventure Aquarium over the top remember not vote only once. Vote every day until May 13.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

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