The Orlando, FL-headquartered Ripley and Dallas-based GreyHawkare still working out the fine points to the plan, but have come toterms for building the entertainment giant's third aquarium in theUS. If the product mirrors the Gatlinburg, TN and Myrtle Beach, SCprojects, it will be an 87,000-sf facility with a $40 million-plusprice tag.

Michelle A. Corson, GreyHawk principal, tells GlobeSt.com that"it's pretty much a go" whether or not the city ponies upincentives like those pledged to Erik Pedersen and his US AquariumTeam Inc. for part of the cost to build a $30-million aquariumbeside its top tourist attraction, the 1.5-million-sf GrapevineMills Mall. Greyhawk's land, with frontage along Texas 26, is justa stone's throw away on terrain with a seven-acre lake and views ofthe region's newest resort and conference center, the GaylordTexan, and nestled between the Cowboys Golf Club and DFW LakesHilton.

Corson says Ripley looked at GreyHawk's land five years ago, butdecided it wasn't the right time to build. About a year ago, Corsonand partner, Harry C. Sherman III, paid a return visit to Ripley'sexecutive team to pick up talks as a groundswell built for anaquarium in Grapevine.