Two Major Darien Donors Aid $4M Aquarium Overhaul

As the in Norwalk moves ahead with a $4 million renovation, two donors from Darien are responsible for much of the project's financial backing.

Richard Hokin, a longtime trustee, contributed $1.14 million to the effort, leading the aquarium to rename its "reimagined" galleries the Hokin Family Sound Voyage.

The late William Ziegler III — another Darien resident and longtime trustee — was also among the lead donors. Additional gifts game from CulinArt Inc., Newman's Own, and other members of the aquarium's board.

Elected officials and supporters gathered at the aquarium on Monday to mark the start of renovations. 

"We sincerely believe that Sound Voyage will be the catalyst that inspires in many a thirst for knowledge and heightened awareness of an environment that's an integral part of our and millions of others' daily lives," Hokin said at the event.

Norwalk Mayor Richard A. Moccia, State Sen. Bob Duff, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal also spoke at the gathering, which featured a ceremonial launching of toy sharks in lieu of a traditional groundbreaking.

Among the planned changes:

• After the renovations, visitors will have a "school-bus-size" interactive map (36 feet long and 12 feet high) of Long Island Sound they can play with, an elevator instead of the staircase in the hall where seals are exhibited, and a different way of getting around the building, aquarium officials said.
• The hall will be renamed "Newman's Own Hall" after the Newman's Own Foundation, a longtime supporter of the aquarium which donated $1.25 million for the renovation. The foundation is paying for the large Long Island Sound.
• The new, 5,600-gallon Shark & Ray Touch Pool will be 90 feet in circumference — compared with the current ray touch pool of 20 feet — so the pool's edges may be less crowded, and kids will have more of a chance to experience it.
• A new Sharks and Rays Gallery will exist in the area where the current touch tank is located. Visitors can watch exhibits in which skates and dogfish sharks develop in their egg cases and hatch from them.
• The staircase in the hall will be replaced by an elevator in a corner, but the iron ramp in the room will remain. The door leading to the hall where the touch tank now is located will be replaced with another one. Visitors will also get a new entrance into the hall.
• Traffic flow into the aquarium will be changed in various ways.