U2’s record-breaking 360° tour stage to be featured at Loveland Aquarium

U2’s record-breaking 360° tour stage to be featured at Loveland Aquarium

(Loveland Living Planet Aquarium)


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DRAPER — When Utahns first got a glimpse of “The Claw,” the 190-ton steel construction that resembles a creature from H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds,” it was during a stop on U2’s 360° tour on May 24, 2011, at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

U2’s 360° world tour lasted two years and brought in $736 million, according to Forbes, making it the highest-grossing music tour in history.

Seven years after the band left Salt Lake, The Claw, which Rolling Stone called the “largest stage in history,” has found a new home: the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper.

“We hope that it will connect with people in a different way,” Heather Doggett, vice president of operations for the aquarium, told KSL.com.

She said The Claw will be used as one of “a number of components” that will make up the Science Learning Campus, an expansion of the aquarium meant to increase education and community engagement.

“It’s a beautiful and majestic sculpture,” she said, adding that there are only two of these stages worldwide, making it a unique piece of architecture.

The Loveland Aquarium, which was built in 2014, has focused on connecting art with science, which Doggett said go “hand in hand.”

“We have a history and a legacy of bringing art into how we communicate about science and the environment,” said Doggett.

For example, there is an LED light display and a large fin sculpture outside the building. And inside the aquarium, there are massive whales around the lobby that hang from the ceiling. This is in addition to the main attraction: the aquarium hosts 4,000 animals from 625 different species.

“I think, like many museums, we know that some people are really touched in an emotional way by seeing something that’s that spectacular and large and impressive,” Doggett said.

The Claw is the latest in the aquarium's endeavor to combine art and science. It stands at a towering 165 feet (as tall as 60 Gentoo penguins stacked on one another, the aquarium noted) and covers an area of 28,287 square feet.

The area underneath The Claw will be used as a plaza for various educational and entertainment events, according to a news release. It will hold a 7,000-seat outdoor venue, as well as a smaller 350-seat venue for animal presentations and science lectures.

Beneath the stage will be the Eco Command Center, a “highly detailed thematic experience” that will “combine elements from escape rooms, simulators and team building activities” where visitors complete “eco-missions” in a variety of ecosystems and geographic regions, the news release stated.

Additionally, the Science Learning Campus will feature a Science Learning Center that will include interactive science stations, laboratories and classrooms, new animal exhibits and a five-story Asian Cloud Forest Habitat & Endangered Species Conservation Center.

“So there’s a lot that we’re going to be doing to get people ready to join us at this community gathering space,” Doggett said.

The aquarium has heard “a lot of great things” from members of the community on Facebook and other social media outlets, Doggett said, but some are still asking, "Why The Claw?" Doggett said the aquarium feels that The Claw is “something that would bring attention to Draper, Utah,” and added that the aquarium is "welcoming any questions that we have about it because we want to have that dialogue with the community."

Right now, The Claw is at an undisclosed location on the East Coast, Rolling Stone reported. The Claw will be brought in this fall along with other outdoor renovations which are expected to be completed by spring 2019, according to Doggett. The second phase of construction will begin after that.

Construction shouldn’t affect aquarium operations, hours or parking, Doggett added.

She said she hopes the unique stage will help get Utah children interested in learning. The aquarium provides 81,000 student experiences each year, according to the news release.

“We want to continue to bring education to all the children and families in Utah,” Doggett said.

Donations can be made for the new Living Planet Science Learning Campus via the aquarium's GoFundMe account.*

*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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