Columbus Zoo announces plans for new John F. Wolfe Aquarium, remains focused on conservation efforts

Helena Hennessy
Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:47:11 +0000
Arts & Life, Instagram Page, News, 2029, activity, animal, aquarium, aquatic, Becky Ellsworth, Building, business, career, city, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, conservation, construction, exhibit, habitat, internships, jobs, john f. wolfe, local, news, ohio state, organization, plan, powell, press, refugee, release, research, saving [and 6 more]

Mock-up of the aerial view of the John F. Wolfe Aquarium at the Columbus Zoo, coming in 2029. Credit: LMN Architects and Thinc Design.

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium announced their conservation-forward vision Friday for the new John F. Wolfe Aquarium, which is set to be completed by 2029.?

The aquarium — located at 4850 W. Powell Rd. in Powell, OH — will be the largest in Ohio, spanning 100,000-square-feet, and will strive to redefine the aquatic wildlife experience in the Midwest, according to a press release from the zoo. The aquarium will be funded by a $50 million gift from The Robert F. Wolfe and Edgar T. Wolfe Foundation.?

“Three quarters of [the world] is covered by water, and our zoo hasn’t always traditionally reflected that,” said Tom Schmid, chief executive officer for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. “This really gives us a chance to tell a much more comprehensive story about global wildlife.”

The John F. Wolfe Aquarium will be a free-standing, year-round destination, connecting guests to aquatic ecosystems from around the world, according to the press release. Plans include more than 1 million gallons of freshwater and seawater habitats, featuring more than 10,000 aquatic animals, representing more than 300 species across 27 immersive exhibits.

Schmid said the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has always focused on conservation efforts. In recent years, they have expanded their outreach to join rescue missions for mountain gorillas in East Africa, elephants in Asia and manatees in the Caribbean.

“There will be several new conservation initiatives within the new Wolfe aquarium,” Schmid said. “That work will continue, and there’ll be new opportunities for us to help these imperiled species, and also help the communities where they reside.”

The $50 million donation that the zoo has received will make historic changes and will expand educational and research opportunities, Schmid said.?

“That is a gift or a commitment that fundamentally changes the trajectory of the institution, and that’s what this gift does,” Schmid said. “These are gifts that come along once in a decade, or even in some cases some organizations never get them, so we’re just very fortunate.”

The zoo’s current aquarium is smaller in size, compared to the John F. Wolfe, sitting at 10,000-square feet, Schmid said. The current aquarium features several small focus tanks and the large 80,000-gallon Discovery Reef Indo-Pacific aquarium, which includes the coral reef habitat.?

“Corals are imperiled around the world, and the more we can try to help develop solutions to get corals to better become resilient to climate change, I think the better,” Schmid said. “We’ve been involved in that research for a number of years. We’ll have a much larger coral program in the new aquarium.”??

The current aquarium also features Manatee Coast and a Shores region, which features penguins, flamingos and stingrays, said Becky Ellsworth, shores and aquarium curator for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. While the manatee habitat will remain in its current location, exhibits in the Discovery Reef area will be relocated to the new aquarium.?

Ellsworth said the John F. Wolfe Aquarium will focus on establishing larger, anchor habitats, featuring aquatic animals from the Indo-Pacific, Amazon and Scioto River regions.?

“We’re bringing large sharks back to Columbus, which we are really excited for,” Ellsworth said.

The new aquarium will source its aquatic animals through different resources, such as transferring them from other zoos and breeding them in their own facility to promote sustainability, Ellsworth said.

“We’ll be raising a lot of our own animals here,” Ellsworth said. “We’re making an aquatic conservation and acclimation center here prior to opening the aquarium, and that is to start getting animals in and start getting them habituated to life here in Columbus.”

Schmid said the new aquarium will create jobs and internship opportunities for aspiring conservation leaders, particularly for Ohio State students.

“If they’re interested in biology, or if they’re interested in education, or conservation, or even business, for that matter, we hire folks in a variety of capacities,” Schmid said. “We’re continuing to focus on the workforce in the future.”?

The new aquarium will aim to introduce aquatic animals to a new audience, specifically a Midwestern one.?

“The Scioto River is a wonderful resource that we have here, but most people probably don’t know all the fish that live in that river [or] the endangered mussels that live in that river,” Schmid said. “We really want to share those stories and really talk about how all these rivers connect and are ultimately part of the aquatic habitats around the world.”?

While the zoo’s attendance levels are often weather-dependent, Schmid said the aquarium will be open year-round, and hopes to build connections with the Columbus community, no matter the season.?

The new aquarium will strive to expand research opportunities through their core focus on conservation efforts, Ellsworth said.?

“We have a huge conservation message behind this aquarium, but we also have a heavy focus on well-being, and so we’re really looking to make sure that we have those opportunities for research for well-being and for our lesser-known species,” Ellsworth said.?

The John F. Wolfe Aquarium is set to open in 2029, and more timelines and construction details will be released as initial planning progresses, according to the press release.

The article was updated on June 30 at 10:30 p.m. to correct Tom Schmid’s name.?