A local mall is taking over an interactive zoo and aquarium, saving over a thousand animals.
Boulevard Mall has purchased assets from longtime anchor tenant SeaQuest Las Vegas after the business filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, renaming it One World Interactive Aquarium.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Idaho approved the sale of assets to the mall on Thursday, with no objections filed. Additionally, the mall purchased 1,100 to 1,200 animals from SeaQuest, saying it felt a “duty” to the animals and “any other outcome would have surely resulted in their euthanization.”
“We certainly personally enjoy it and hear from our customers on a regular basis about how much they enjoy it,” said Boulevard Mall general manager Timo Kuusela.
SeaQuest owed the mall $785,626. Boulevard Mall agreed to pay $42,500 for the assets and waive the remaining $743,126 owed to the property.
All employees will be retained at the former SeaQuest location. “Their employees are like members of a close-knit family,” Kuusela said, “and it was a high priority to keep them working.”
The interactive zoo and aquarium filed for bankruptcy in December, reporting less than $1 million in assets, but $10 million in liabilities, effectively closing all four of their national locations.
The company has long been under scrutiny nationwide and at the Las Vegas location, with former employees alleging animal neglect and numerous deaths, and animal rights activists advocating for Boulevard Mall remove SeaQuest as a tenant.
Contact Emerson Drewes at edrewes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @EmersonDrewes on X.
