Draper police investigating ‘urban explorers’ who climbed 16-story structure at aquarium after hours

DRAPER, Utah (ABC4) — The Draper City Police Department has opened an investigation into a video posted by an urban exploration account on Instagram.

The account urbex.utah on Instagram posted a video filmed at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium late Tuesday night. The account usually features the exploration of abandoned structures. This video depicted at least three individuals walking through a construction site at the aquarium to access the EECO.

EECO is a repurposed set piece

from U2’s world tour that’s sometimes called “the claw” by locals. EECO stands for Ecosystem Exploration Craft and Observatory, and is part of the EECO Voyager educational experience at the aquarium.

The video posted on Instagram shows these individuals climbing up the steel frame of EECO, which is roughly 16 stories tall. Urban exploration does not usually involve any climbing or safety gear, which can make it dangerous to climb large structures.

“The department would like to stress that acts such as those in the video are illegal and put the involved parties at great risk of serious injury or death,” Draper police said in a press release.

Captain Pat Evans with the Draper City Police Department said that they took a report regarding the video from the aquarium this morning.

“We will be investigating and will be charging any identified suspects.  We are working with the aquarium in an attempt to take down videos to prevent future problems from copy cats,” Capt. Evans told ABC4.

Anyone with information should contact the Draper Police Department at 801-840-4000.