08/11/2026
If anyone is visiting the Iowa State Fair this year, stop by the IDNR building.
Celebrating 100 years of permanent fish aquariums at the Iowa State Fair
Thousands of men, women and children from across Iowa and other states viewed a variety and sizes of native fishes swimming contentedly in the new permanent fish aquariums at the 1926 Iowa State Fair.
After 16 years of moving from location to location, the Fish and Game Department’s popular display relocated to its current location just inside the west entrance on Grand Avenue, easily accessible to all fairgoers.
Construction of 21 modern aquariums started the week of July 21, 1926. The aquariums were finished and open for viewing by the first day of the 1926 Fair on August 25. Ornamental plaster frog and turtle “roof supports” and tiles decorated with a variety of fish and other sea creatures accent the aquarium’s stucco exterior. A white post structure around the outside of the Aquarium Building supported an awning to shade fairgoers.
Oscar the lake sturgeon, the aquarium’s most famous resident, made her debut appearance at the 1925 Iowa State Fair with fairgoers voting to name the big fish that dominated the Fish and Game tent. Oscar was given the suite of the new aquarium building (Tank #1) or as we know it today, the Lunker Tank. She would reign supreme in that tank until the day after the 1953 State Fair when she passed away. Another fish naming contest was held in 1954 to name Oscar’s replacement, Big Mac.
The outer walls of the Fish and Game pavilion were added during 1927. The roof was added in 1928 and the iron work and gates that closed off the outer walls of the Pavilion were added in 1929. The pavilion is a classically styled structure built in the Italian Renaissance tradition with decorative wrought iron balcony railings, white marble medallions between the arches on the side walls, and cast stone swans perched on the southeast and southwest roof corners.
The Fish and Game Pavilion and Aquarium is the legacy of W.E. Albert, who served as State Fish and Game Warden from 1920 until his death in 1932. Albert spearheaded the construction of a permanent exhibit building on the state fairgrounds in 1926 to replace the messy stock tanks of 1910 and the glass aquariums from the 1920s.
On Dec. 23, 1991, the Fish and Game Pavilion and Aquarium was added to The National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service. Both were designed by the Des Moines architectural firm Proudfoot, Rawson, and Sours who also designed the Polk County Courthouse, the ISU alumni hall, the Iowa State University Memorial Union as well as many of the other public buildings across Iowa. The exhibit pavilion has attracted thousands of fair-goers each August, except for a few years during World War II when the fairgrounds were closed and the Army used the buildings for offices.
Seventy years after the aquarium building was built, the steel and glass aquariums were replaced by new plexi-glass tanks and all new plumbing. The outside of the aquarium building also got a facelift with repairs to the plaster frog and turtle “roof supports” and the tiles of fish and other sea creatures between them. The aquarium plumbing was updated again in the mid-2000s to become a more efficient recirculating system with more filters to improve the health of the hundreds of fish on display. In 2020 and 2021, the aquarium tanks were replaced with thicker custom acrylic tanks.
Stop by the aquarium (in the DNR building near the west entrance) at this year's Iowa State Fair, Aug. 13-23. It's open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. Celebrate a century of aquarium history and memories at 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15 at the Courtyard Stage. Learn about the aquarium’s most famous resident, Oscar the lake sturgeon, and fun facts about the building’s history and unique architectural design.
Media Contact: Vance Polton, Fisheries Management Technician, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 319-694-2430.
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