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The general manager of Ripley’s Aquarium says the popular downtown tourist attraction has been forced to turn thousands of people away due to a power outage this morning.
Speaking to CP24 Thursday, Peter Doyle, the downtown aquarium’s general manager, said the power went off at around 5 a.m. and the building has been without hydro ever since.
“We are just sitting here waiting to get the power restored so we can reopen right away,” he said.
He was quick to note that the aquarium, which is typically open 365 days a year, has a backup generator.
“All our animals are safe. Our water quality is fine. Our animals’ health is paramount to what we do,” he said.
However, until Toronto Hydro restores the electricity, he said members of the public are unable to visit.
“Without lights and power, we cannot open the building to the public,” he said. “We’ve probably turned away over 6,000 people so far so it is a lot of people.”
Doyle said they have offered complimentary tickets to people who showed up at the aquarium and were not permitted to enter.
“We are giving people coupons for free coffee and a muffin,” he added.
He said that in the meantime, staff members are also encouraging people to go check out nearby businesses, which are not impacted by the outage.
“Apparently since we are a new building, it’s a new distribution line,” Doyle said. “Some of the office buildings down east of us on Bremner are apparently also affected.”
He said Toronto Hydro has assured him that a fix is “imminent.”
“We are at (Toronto Hydro’s) mercy right now,” Doyle said.
