Some bait from taxpayers will help lure tens of thousands of fish — and millions of visitors — to the aquarium planned for the base of the CN Tower, the Star has learned.

Approvals and design work for a long-sought aquarium have gone swimmingly since details were announced a year ago, say Ripley’s Entertainment, the City of Toronto and the federal Crown corporation that controls the three-acre parcel of land just south of the tower.

Contracts could be signed as early as this summer, triggering construction to get the 150,000-square-foot watery attraction —Toronto’s first big new tourist magnet since the Hockey Hall of Fame almost 20 years ago — ready for July 2015, when visitors will stream into Pan Am Games events at the neighbouring Rogers Centre.

“I’m optimistic” there won’t be any snags, said Jim Pattison Jr., president of Orlando-based Ripley’s, a division of his billionaire father’s Vancouver-based The Jim Pattison Group.

“There will be tens of thousands of different (marine) animals, and some features that will be unique to Toronto,” Pattison added, including a moving walkway taking visitors through “the largest underwater tunnel in North America,” with fish, possibly including sharks, all around them.

Councillor Adam Vaughan, who believes the aquarium will enhance John St. redevelopment, said he was told there will also be a room with tanks of live jellyfish, special lighting and mirrors to create a “psychedelic visual experience.”

But taxpayers will swallow some of the costs.

A source with knowledge of the plans said various levels of government are expected to contribute about $10 million each to the project, with Ripley’s investing $110 million — a figure Pattison would not confirm.

Mike Williams, the city’s manager of economic development, confirmed the aquarium is approved for an incentive program that lets commercial and industrial corporations forgo a percentage of property taxes for 10 years.

How much that saves Ripley’s won’t be known until the value of the developed property is set, he said, but $10 million “could be in the ballpark.”

“This is a fabulous project” that will draw tourists from near and far, as well as school groups and other Toronto visitors, and keep them in the area spending money longer, he said.

While declining to confirm or deny that the Ontario government is investing in the aquarium, Mukunthan Paramalingham, a spokesman for Tourism Minister Michael Chan, said in an email: “The arrival of an aquarium of this calibre will bring in millions of visitors, fill our hotels, and create jobs.

“It will provide great educational opportunities for visitors of all ages while ensuring that everyone gets a chance to see that Ontario is a great place to live, visit and invest.”

While the source said Ottawa is expected to also contribute $10 million, a vice-president of Canada Lands Co., the federal agency in negotiations to lease the land to Ripley’s, said he knew of no such contribution.

Gordon McIvor said, though, that Ottawa will spend money on landscaping, signs and other features to dramatically improve the John St., Front St. and Bremner Blvd. entrances to the tower/aquarium site.

“This is an extraordinarily important project for keeping Toronto vibrant” and will give a boost to the tower’s visitors — almost 2 million annually — and help draw conferences to the neighbouring, federally owned Metro Toronto Convention Centre, he said.

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Vaughan said Mayor Rob Ford’s office has been supportive of the project that was started under Ford’s predecessor, David Miller.

“The mayor’s office wanted to insist the aquarium have parking, but Ripley’s said it chose the site because of the (pedestrian and transit) options, and parking made the project not financially viable. The requirement was waived.”