Review It: Biomes Marine Biology Center

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Kite Tails Finds New Home at Biomes

Kite Tails Play Center is now inside Biomes Marine Science Center on Post Road.

  The old Kite Tails Play Center building may be no more, but families can still enjoy a day of fun and activities with owner Aimee Falso.  The play center, which opened two years ago at 6320 Post Rd., closed its doors last month after the building's owner looked to sell the property. Without a facility for her business, Falso wasn't sure what the future held for Kite Tails. That is, until Biomes Marine Science Center's owner contacted her with a proposition.  Biomes recently moved into a larger space at the old Gable House Furniture, jumping from its 1,200-square-foot building to a new 10,000-square-foot location. Though the move has allowed owner Mark Hall to expand his inventory and exhibits, and also to share some of the space with …

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Biomes Back in Business

North Kingstown's aquarium, Biomes, is officially open at its new location.

  After more than three months since owner Mark Hall closed his doors at the old Biomes building in Shady Lea, New England's largest private aquarium is officially open at its new location on Post Road. Initially, Hall anticipated to close the old building and open the new facility successively. Unfortunately, fire and building code updates forced back the building’s grand opening by more than two months. Now officially up to code, Biomes is up and running – and with a much different look. The new facility – the former home of Gable House Furniture – boasts about 10,000 sq. ft. of space, which is decidedly much larger than its old building at just 1,700 sq. ft. The added space also means more (and bigger) exhibits. Amongst the nearly 80 …

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New Biomes Building to Open in December

Biomes plans to reopen in December.

  It's been a long two months for the folks over at Biomes Marine Biology Center as the private aquarium relocates to its new home on Post Road. A series of delays have pushed back Biomes' reopening to mid-December. In September, owner Mark Hall closed down the original Biomes location behind the Shady Lea Mill in preparation for the big move to the old Gable House Furniture building. Hall estimated the new location would be up and running by October. What he didn't anticipate was the bevy of fire codes from the state that would eventually push back the facility's grand opening by two months. According to Hall, he and the folks at Biomes have been working to get the building in order to comply with state fire codes. He says it's not just …

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Biomes Fundraising For New Commercial Fisheries Exhibit

Biomes wants to build a new commercial fishers exhibit at its new location.

After 16 years at its 2,000-square-foot location behind Shady Lea Mill, Biomes Marine Biology Center (New England's largest, private aquarium) is heading north to its new 12,000-square-foot-facility. With the larger space comes more exhibits. For one exhibit in particular, owner Mark Hall needs some help. Hall is hoping to create an exhibit with several displays to show visitors the commercial fishing process in progress. The exhibit will feature a mini version of an oyster farm, a tank with a functioning lobster pot, lobster traps and more.  For the exhibit, Hall is collaborating with the University of Rhode Island archeology department to show a scale model of an actual Rhode Island shipwreck and how these wrecks form artificial reefs, …

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11:43 am on Thursday, September 20, 2012

Mark, congratulations on the new location! My students and I anxiously await the opening of your new 12, 000 sq. ft. facility! We will definitely be having a fieldtrip to visit!   more ›

Biomes Outgrows Its Shell, Planning Move to Post Road

Rhode Island largest aquarium will be on the move this fall.

Calvin the calico lobster and his friends over at Biomes Center are moving on up – literally and figuratively. This fall, New England’s only private marine education facility will move from its home nestled behind the Shady Lea Mill up to the old Gable House Furniture location on Post Road. Though Biomes’ current location has served owner Mark Hall well since 1997, the 1,700 sq. ft. facility (like the hermit crabs found at the aquarium) has outgrown its shell. After seeing great success when he began to open it to the public a few years ago, Hall decided it was time to relocate. When Hall and his bounty of marine friends move into the former Gable House Furniture building, he promises there will be “nothing else like it.” And with 10,000 …

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MeanE

9:51 am on Monday, July 9, 2012

This is the best news for Post Road in a very long time. They even replaced the sign with a real sign, instead of just covering up the Gable House furniture sign with a temp sign like the last two businesses to lease the space. Good Luck, glad to have you in the neighborhood!   more ›

Biomes' New Lobster Is More Than 'One in a Million'

North Kingstown's private aquarium, Biomes, is now home to one of the rarest lobsters in the world.

A group of elementary school students crowded around the black-light lit tank. In the corner, sits a black and yellow speckled lobster. “Is that him?” asked one of the teachers. “Yep, that’s Calvin,” said Mark Hall, owner of Biomes Marine Biology Center in North Kingstown. Hall has been receiving calls for the past week inquiring about Biomes newest resident after major news outlets reported on the unique crustacean. Calvin, who came to Biomes on May 16, is more than just a one-in-a-million lobster, however. He’s a calico lobster – one of the rarest types of lobsters in the world. According to Maine-based Lobster Conservancy, calico lobsters are even rarer than blue lobsters (which are a one-in-a-million find). The mutation that causes the…

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Rare Calico Lobster Heading to NK's Biomes Center

North Kingstown's marine science center, Biomes, will become the new home from a rare calico lobster.

Experts are saying that a calico lobster that has risen to celebrity status could be a 1-in-30 million find. And, that lobster is heading for North Kingstown's own Biomes Marine Biology Center. This calico lobster, bright orange with yellow spots, was caught off Winter Harbor, ME. According to Maine-based Lobster Conservancy, the find is extremely rare – even rarer than a blue lobster. (According to their figures, perhaps one lobster in a million is blue while calico lobsters are almost 30 times as rare.) However, the rarest variation is the white lobster, which is estimated at 1 in 100 million. The rare lobster (named Calvin) was almost dinner, according to NPR. A staff member at Jasper White's Summer Shack – a restaurant in Cambridge, MA…

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Horseshoe Crab Gets Prosthetic Tail

Mark Hall of Biomes has equipped an injured horseshoe crab with a prosthetic tail.