''We're just figuring out what we would want to put in the space, and what the space should look like and how we would raise money for it,'' Townsend continues, adding the expansion would ''just add to the value for what people would get for the admission price.''

While there are no definitive plans yet, he tells GlobeSt.com he is looking to see what other aquariums nationwide are doing. He says it costs about $500 per sf to create temporary exhibit space. ''So if we built a 10,000-sf exhibit space, we'd be looking for a cost of about $5 million,'' he says.

Townsend adds he probably will make a decision in the third quarter on whether to pursue an addition. He says COJ likely would sell the naming rights and seek other corporate donations to fund it. Denver-based Qwest Communications Inc., a telecommunications giant, has the naming rights for all of COJ and has first right of refusal to name the temporary exhibit space, he says.