Cleveland's aquarium

repurposed infrastructure aquarium
  • Former life: Power plant

Originally built in the late 1800s to generate electricity for Cleveland's emerging network of street cars, the First Energy Powerhouse is now home to the Cleveland Aquarium.

The building stopped producing power in the 1920s when automobiles began replacing street cars, and it was home to several businesses in the following decades.

It's been an aquarium since 2012. The giant smoke stacks house the aquarium's jellyfish exhibit, which is illuminated and can be viewed from below. The basement of the building is home to a 250,000 gallon shark tank. Visitors can walk through the tank via a sealed tube, where both the sharks and the building's original foundation are visible.

Related: In Cleveland, sheep could be key to city's revival

First published October 17, 2014: 5:02 PM ET
Source: Cleveland Aquarium
With reporting from CNN Senior Research Librarian Caitlin Stark

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