And as the deadline approaches for the city's Redevelopment Agency to sell its 3.8 acres near Pioneer Park, public officials are growing more strident in their public statements.
"The aquarium not only wants to potentially delay the construction. They are also demanding . . . the ability to sell off the land as they please and to build to the underlying zoning, which means potentially a much smaller aquarium or potentially no aquarium at all," warned Councilman Eric Jergensen, chairman of the RDA board, which is the City Council.
The RDA bought the land in 2001 so that Living Planet could build an aquarium. Living Planet has had first dibs since then and notified the RDA on Friday that it would buy the parcel for about $3.8 million, which is what the RDA paid for it. By contract, the aquarium would get the land by mid-December.
But attorneys for both parties are hashing out what happens once the RDA sells the land. And there is talk of litigation. The RDA board will discuss the aquarium options Thursday in a public meeting and then behind closed doors. Neither council members nor Mayor Rocky Anderson want to sell the land, fearing the aquarium won't be built.
The RDA believes Living Planet must start construction by 2007 as specified in one RDA document. But aquarium officials point to another record that gives no deadline.
Brent Andersen, aquarium director, wouldn't give a construction timeline Monday, except to say the facility would open two years after fund raising is finished. As of April, the aquarium had raised $1.8 million (excluding the cost of the land) toward the $46.7 million project. Living Planet plans to ask Salt Lake County residents to approve a $30 million bond.
"As long as we make them whole [pay full cost for the RDA land] I don't know what the problem is," Andersen said. "Just be patient. The community's going to get a great family, educational, tourism asset."
For the first time publicly, the mayor said Monday the aquarium land could be used to build a Major League Soccer Stadium for the city's newest sports team. The stadium wouldn't be built on the aquarium site, 400 South and 500 West. Rather, that land would be swapped for property elsewhere for a stadium.
When asked if there was a chance the RDA could refuse to sell the land to the aquarium, the mayor said: "We're going to be talking to our lawyers and developing a strategy."
Aquarium director Andersen denied he would try to sell off the land, though he said the aquarium likely will want to build an associated restaurant and gift shop. While the property's zoning allows for housing and retail, the documents seem clear that the land can be used only for an aquarium. However, its eventual size and cost are debatable. One document says it would be a $46.7 million, 950,000-gallon facility; another doesn't specify. "We're not exercising the option so we can sell off the land," Andersen said. "We're exercising the option so we can have the land to build the aquarium."
hmay@sltrib.com
