City Councilman Eric Jergensen said this week that he anticipates holding a special Redevelopment Agency meeting today to extend the deadline another month to give the City Council and Mayor Rocky Anderson more time to negotiate with Living Planet. The city is seeking a deadline by which Living Planet would have to start construction on a full-scale aquarium.

"We're making progress. We're working on a funding deadline and a construction deadline," said Jergensen, head of the RDA Board, which doubles as the City Council.

The RDA bought the land west of Pioneer Park for $3.8 million in 2001 and leased it to Living Planet, which now wants to buy the parcel for virtually the same price.

Anderson, Jergensen and Councilman Dale Lambert met with Living Planet board members Arthur Benjamin and David Wolf this week to start negotiations.

Lambert said the city could agree to give the aquarium until 2008 - a year longer than the city initially wanted - to raise money and start construction. That would give the aquarium time to pursue a $30 million to $40 million bond through Salt Lake County.

Aquarium officials wanted the city to commit to supporting the bond, Lambert said, but that doesn't seem likely.

Benjamin declined to comment Wednesday on the specific negotiations but said the aquarium is working to find a solution that will benefit Living Planet, city officials and families who would want to visit a new attraction.

"I have even more incentive to find that win-win-win solution because of my wife's tremendous commitment to seeing the families of Salt Lake and Salt Lake County have the chance to have a best day ever at the aquarium," he said.

Benjamin's wife, Gail, died Saturday from breast cancer. An aquarium preview exhibit at The Gateway is named for her.

Negotiations were tense last month, when the city asked Living Planet to back off its plan to buy the land. According to documents obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune, the city demanded Living Planet build a $46 million, 87,000-square-foot aquarium. Construction would have to start by June 15, 2007.

But Wolf, who is also the aquarium's attorney, disputed those terms in a letter he sent to the city. He wrote that such restrictions on size and price would be irrelevant once the aquarium buys the land.

And while Wolf insists there would be an aquarium on the land, he also requested that the city allow Living Planet to build whatever is allowed by zoning.

hmay@sltrib.com