KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Zoo is showing off progress on its new $75 million aquarium project. City leaders and community partners spent part of Monday afternoon surveying the progress on the building.

Crews are building the 60,000-square-foot building that will hold 600,000 gallons of tanks on the main path of the zoo, right before visitors arrive at the elephants.

When the aquarium is complete, it will be able to hold everything from sharks to seahorses. Friends of the Zoo, the zoo’s operator, anticipates 30-35 exhibits featuring animals from around the world.

Work began earlier this year on the aquarium, which is the single largest project in the 112-year history of the Kansas City Zoo.

Kansas City pledged $7 million toward the project in 2018. The rest was to be funded by a 1/8-cent sales tax that Jackson and Clay County residents have been paying since 2011, as well as private donations. The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the fundraising efforts.

The Kansas City Zoo expects the aquarium to open in mid-2023.