‘History is going up in front of our eyes:’ The storied past of Pier 58 and the aquarium space
Jul 26, 2025, 5:01 AM
Pier 58 has reopened after years of renovations, and it’s just one piece of the puzzle of Seattle’s Waterfront Park.
There have been massive renovations over the past 15 years to get the waterfront to where it is today.
To build the ocean pavilion to last for generations, millions of pounds and miles of rebar lining the reef habitat are beyond what you’d find in tall skyscrapers.
“History’s literally going up in front of our eyes,” Seattle historian Feliks Banel said.
Banel reminds us that long before the Seattle Aquarium was ever a concept to teach conservation, profiteers lured tourists to Seattle and used sealife to make a fast buck.
In the mid-1930s, a post-Civil War era clipper ship was a floating museum, where for a dime you were promised a small display of sea life from Puget Sound.
Then there was the frozen fish museum of 2,000 fish frozen solid. Somehow, this odd attraction stayed open for 30 years.
Long before Seattle showman Ivar Haglund ever sold a single cup of chowder, his big business idea was what he called an aquarium on the waterfront.
“Ivar was inviting people to look at octopuses in a fish tank, and those people, he sold fish and chips and chowder to. The fish and chips and chowder came second. The first was an aquarium, and it morphed into a business selling fish and chips,” Banel said.
Ivar Haglund charged a nickel to show live sea life, but Banel said it was a sideshow.
“Ivar would do things like take a baby seal and put it in a baby carriage and push it around the city to generate publicity for his business,” Banel said.
Years later, when the World’s Fair attracted millions of visitors, businessman Ted Griffin cashed in by opening a for-profit marine aquarium, which took a dark dive in 1965.
“An orca, a killer whale, is captured by mistake off Vancouver Island, caught in some fisherman’s nets,” Banel shared. “Giffin buys it, builds a floating pen, and tows it all the way back to Seattle. It’s a media spectacle. Radio DJs are following along. TV stations are doing remote shots from the Strait of Juan de Fuca, trying to get footage of this whale coming to town because no one had ever successfully had a whale in captivity.”
They named the whale Namu and charged people to watch him caged in a pen on the waterfront. Hollywood filmmakers quickly moved in and made a movie starring Namu as a character. People protested, demanding Namu’s freedom.
“Unfortunately, before that movie could open to the public, Namu died of a bacterial infection,” Banel said.
An infection reportedly caused by raw sewage, which was, at the time, polluting Elliott Bay.
“It all begins with this sad whale, Namu, who was captured, dragged to Seattle, made to be a movie star against his will, and died in captivity less than a year later,” Banel said. “It’s a real tragedy.”
Having learned from dark decisions, Seattle city leaders offered a better way. Voters approved a 1968 tax to build a real nonprofit aquarium, building a new relationship between Seattle and the sea for the next hundred years.
“There was a very strong ethic here in the 50s, 60s, and 70s into the 80s to invest in things that people could benefit from for decades to come, and the aquarium fits right into that mix,” Banel said.
On May 20, 1977, the Seattle Aquarium opened to a crowd. The Seattle mayor called it the age of the aquarium.
Banel said the ocean pavilion will show how a city can transform an attitude while transforming a waterfront, while educating generations on the power of preservation instead of profit.
