Scripps Aquarium Gets $6-Million Gift : Delaware Foundation’s Donation Pushes Controversial Facility Nearer to Goal

A little-publicized Delaware foundation gave $6 million Tuesday to help build a new aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, putting the project near its $8.2-million fund-raising goal.

The gift from the Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation represents one-sixth of the total $30-million goal of the UC San Diego 25th Anniversary Campaign and is the largest gift ever received by the campus.

“This donation from the foundation demonstrates a strong commitment to UCSD and Scripps for education and community service programs that will benefit all of San Diego and those who visit the area,” UCSD Chancellor Richard Atkinson said in a joint announcement of the gift.

UCSD plans a new 31,000-square-foot-aquarium and ocean science interpretive center, which will double the size of the current aquarium. The plans, which call for completion by 1990, have been controversial, with some nearby residents complaining that the planned location on a knoll east of La Jolla Shores Drive will bring traffic, noise and unwanted visual intrusion into their expensive neighborhood.

A final decision on construction rests with the UC Board of Regents.

The new aquarium would include 36 tanks ranging in size up to 30,000 gallons, displaying marine animals in natural-appearing habitats representing the coast of California and the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. The facility also would contain a marine educational center for the thousands of schoolchildren who visit the aquarium each year.

“The new center will be a major public marine information center of international significance,” said Donald Wilkie, Scripps aquarium director.

The Birch Foundation grant represents the largest commitment in its history. The foundation was established in 1938 for religious, charitable, scientific, literary and educational purposes by Stephen and Mary Birch. Stephen Birch was an executive in the mining industry for many years and made his home in Mahwah, N.J.

The foundation has previously contributed to Scripps, world-renowned for its marine research programs. It will work closely with the institution on design and programs for the aquarium.

The gift is one of the largest ever made to a San Diego County institution. In 1983, $7.2 million was contributed to the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, a separate entity from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. San Diego philanthropist Joan Kroc donated $3.3 million from her foundation to the San Diego Zoo last year for a new Asian rain forest exhibit.