|
California's oldest museum, the 150 year old California Academy of Sciences, is closed for reconstruction. The building was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The current building is to be torn down in 2004 and replaced by a new $370 million structure designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. It will feature a sloped "living roof" covered with native plants, and house most of the current exhibits.
Temporary quarters are being readied at 875 Howard Street in San Francisco's South of Market area, to house most of the Acadimy's 5,400 living creatures. Among those not making it to the new digs are the academy's sharks and stingrays. The alligators, which are too old to adjust to the new environment, have been sent to a Florida alligator farm.
The much smaller temporary museum (20,000 square feet compared with 150,000) will retain many of the most popular exhibits, including 90 percent of the fish from the Steinhart Aquarium and lots of boas, pythons and vine snakes. It will also house a two-story fish and coral tank, and a much larger space for the penguins. The "Transition Building" is scheduled to open in April 2004.
|
