Rotterdam

The aquarium at Viaport Rotterdam will open Saturday, November 12, the mall announced.

The grand opening will be held at 1 p.m. that day at the former Rotterdam Square Mall.

The 25,000-square-foot aquarium will feature both freshwater and saltwater fish, and it will have tanks that enable customers to walk through a pair of tunnels as fish swim on three sides of them. Although the original hope was to open in June, that timetable proved overly ambitious.

David Gross, the aquarium's director, has said there will be 37 exhibits with 75,000 gallons of water. There will be some 250 species and about 2,500 total fish and other aquatic creatures.

Alan Fanitzi, a spokesman for the mall, said a ribbon cutting will be held at 11 a.m. that Saturday, and the invited guests will then be given tours of the facility.

The aquarium will then open to the public at 1 p.m. The cost for entering will be $19 for adults, $10 for children ages 4 to 17 and free for children 3 and under. Face painting, a balloon artist and other children's activities will be offered in the mall that day.

So far, he said, the aquarium has put fish in four different tanks as it prepares to open. More fish will be added this week.

The aquarium project is part of ambitious plans to remake the mall, which was necessary due to half its space being vacant, by Istanbul-based Via Properties for $9.25 million. Via said at the time it would invest $10 million.

The first step was to build Via Entertainment, a 30,000-square-foot space that includes bowling lanes, an arcade, a restaurant and space for comedy shows and live music.

tobrien@timesunion.com • 518-454-5092 • @timobrientu