Sea Life Grand Opening Feb. 20th

CONCORD, N.C. — After months of anticipation, the new Sea Life Charlotte-Concord Aquarium will open to the public on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014 at Concord Mills in Concord, NC.

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Sea Life Charlotte-Concord is owner Merlin Entertainments’ 100th attraction to open worldwide, so this grand opening event has very special significance for both the company and the Charlotte-Concord area. The day starts with a ceremony and ribbon cutting at 10:30 am; doors to the 36,000-sq-ft attraction open at noon.

Opening remarks during the ceremony will be made by Sharon Decker, Secretary of Commerce for the NC Department of Commerce; City of Concord Mayor J. Scott Padgett; and other special guests.

Trisha Ruf, General Manager of Sea Life Charlotte-Concord, and Sharky, the attraction mascot, will cut the ribbon with the Cabarrus County Chamber of Commerce to officially mark the opening of the new aquarium.

“After six months of construction, we are excited to finally open our doors and welcome guests from the Carolinas and beyond to the new Sea Life Charlotte-Concord Aquarium,” says Ruf. “The last of our sea creatures settled in last week, and we’re ready to show them off with interactive displays for kids and the young-at-heart.”

Following the ceremony, Sea Life Charlotte-Concord will welcome the first guests to the attraction. The 36,000-square-foot aquarium will showcase more than 20 displays, 5,000 creatures and 150,000 gallons of water. At Sea Life Charlotte-Concord, visitors will travel from the fresh waters of the Catawba River in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the salt waters of the Atlantic Ocean and beyond in about an hour.

Guests will see the sea mural designed for the event and painted by area children. It will be unveiled at the ceremony by Sea Life Charlotte-Concord’s Young Environmentalist student panel, a team of students chosen to communicate Sea Life conservation efforts. Designed by local artist Bridgit Scheide, the mural was painted layer-by-layer at each milestone of the aquarium’s journey to opening day at Concord Mills.