History

Neptune’s Temple

Shedd was designed by one of Chicago’s most prestigious and accomplished architectural firms, Graham, Anderson, Probst & White. Masters of the Beaux-Arts style (their other work includes the Field Museum and Wrigley Building), they created a neoclassical temple of white marble and terra cotta that celebrates aquatic life, from the marine fossils in its limestone floor to Neptune’s trident capping its glass dome.

But where Greek or Roman temples were built on a circle-in-a-cross floor plan, the original building has an octagonal footprint. Noting the lack of workspace in aquariums of the day, Chute had the architects build out the corners of the cross, giving Shedd its distinctive shape and creating room for reserve areas, feed rooms and an early animal hospital.

Since 1930, Shedd has expanded twice, with both additions carefully respecting the original architecture that earned the aquarium a National Historic Landmark designation. The modernistic Abbott Oceanarium, which opened in 1991, was linked physically and philosophically to the original structure by using the same white Georgia marble on its exterior. 

Wild Reef, which opened in 2003, was constructed 25 feet below street level under the original south terrace. Although they are not visible from the front of the aquarium, together these exhibits nearly doubled Shedd’s square footage and made possible vast habitats for marine mammals and large sharks and rays.

Shedd’s Inspiration

John G. Shedd wanted to give back to the city in which he had risen from stock boy to president of department store giant Marshall Field & Company. Because every great city in the United States and Europe had a fine aquarium, he decided that Chicago must have the biggest and best.

Mr. Shedd imagined a stately marble building and a collection of aquatic animals from around the world that would complement the two world-class institutions already in Grant Park, the Field Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago.

With Shedd’s initial donation of $2 million, the not-for-profit Shedd Aquarium Society was founded on Feb. 1, 1924, “to construct, maintain and operate an aquarium or museum of aquatic life exclusively for educational and scientific purposes….” A circle of parkland at the end of 12th Street (now Roosevelt Road) was donated and the planning began.

Walter Chute, who would become the aquarium’s director, toured the major U.S. and European aquariums to study what excelled (and what didn’t) and then worked side by side with the architects to create a state-of-the-art aquarium inside and out, supported by Mr. Shedd’s gift of an additional $1 million.

John G. Shedd never saw his aquarium. He died in October 1926 at age 76. The board of directors carried on, and ground was broken in November 1927. The John G. Shedd Aquarium opened to throngs of guests on May 30, 1930.

Legacy Exhibits

As our experience evolves, some of our exhibits have be reimagined or sunset permanently. Let’s take a look at some of the incredible exhibits that are evolving now and remember their incredible impact on guests over the years.

Learn more about our experience evolution