06.26.10 • Christopher Chadbourne & Associates (CCA) is thrilled to announce the grand opening of new aquarium and cultural history exhibits at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa. The 50,000 square foot expansion is located in the new Diamond Jo National River Center.

CCA has designed 14,000 square feet of immersive and aquatic exhibits incorporating the museum’s vision to expand its campus as well as its educational mission of conservation and stewardship. The three galleries successfully marry CCA’s design expertise in cultural history and aquatic environments to create a "whole new animal."

"We are already the most

comprehensive river museum on the Mississippi River, and we’ll now be the most comprehensive river museum in the country," said Executive Director Jerry Enzler to reporters during a preview.

In the Riverways gallery visitors can learn about the history and cultural impact of America’s rivers. Exhibitions include a canal theater experience and a scenic explorer’s trail around a water fall and cave.

The dramatic Rivers to the Sea gallery explores the conservation of America’s rivers and their impact on our oceans. This immersive aquarium experience includes a Caribbean reef, a North Pacific Giant Octopus and an impressive 40,000-gallon Gulf of Mexico tank of sharks and rays.

The young (and young at heart) can enjoy the new RiverWorks water-play gallery, where visitors will learn and have fun at the boat building table, the river water table, an interactive water "cycle" and the crawl-through beaver lodge.