City buys more than two acres from Navy

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - The City of Virginia Beach bought more than two acres from Navy to create a new animal care center.

According to Lynn Clements with the City of Virginia Beach, the property is near the end of Bells Road off Owls Creek, and the city paid $128,500 to create a new Virginia Aquarium Marine Animal Care Center.
Mark Swingle with the Virginia Aquarium Standing Response Program says the current Animal Care Center is substandard in size and capabilities.

"There is no holding space to house a large sshark from the aquarium, should it need to be treated for illness or isolated for pregnancy, and stranded animal autopsies must be conducted outdoors throughout the year," Swingle said.

The center is not open to the public, and provides operational support to the aquarium. The center will cost about $13.7 million and is expected to open in mid-2018.