A public forum will be held July 15 on the idea of creating an aquarium in the Capital Region.

Nancy Behrens, an educator at the Children's Museum of Science and Technology in Troy, will lead the forum at 7 p.m. that day at the Albany Public Library's main branch, 161 Washington Ave.

Behrens launched a Facebook page under the name Albany Aquarium in April that now has more than 4,000 likes.

She told the Times Union in May that she expected it to take a decade to see her dream come to fruition and was hoping to raise $10,000 to $50,000 to pay for a feasibility study.

Much to her surprise, Behrens gained a major backer for the idea when I. David Swawite, president of Omni Development Co. of Albany, said earlier this month that he favors building an aquarium on the site of the proposed Albany Convention Center downtown.

Swawite said at the time that the facility could be built through private fundraising, the state's economic development apparatus, public bonds or a combination of those — a decision that would be made once a feasibility study is conducted to determine how large the aquarium should be and what it might cost.

"There is certainly a lot of dialogue happening, which is good," Swawite said Wednesday. While not sure his company would participate in the forum, he said, he did meet with Behrens.

"We are talking to Nancy to see what her thinking is," he said.

Convention authority officials have said they do not support Omni's concept, but Behrens said she was glad to have the developer backing her idea.

"That was quite a surprise, quite a wonderful revelation," she said. "I believe we will be able to work together to make this happen."

Behrens has estimated it would cost $50 million to build and $7 million to $10 million annually to operate.

"I've been getting a number of emails from people offering their support, how great an idea this is and how much they want to see an aquarium in Albany," she said. "I believe we will be able to work together to make this happen."

She said the forum on July 15 is hers alone, though she hopes Omni officials will attend.

"This is my forum. This is something I started planning before I knew Omni had such an interest," she said. "Hopefully, they'll come and listen."

Behrens said she has yet to raise much money for the feasibility study, but she hopes the community meeting will change that.

"This is an open meeting," she said. "Anybody interested is welcome to come and hear how we're going to bring an aquarium to the Capital Region."

tobrien@timesunion.com • 518-454-5092 • @timobrientu