If you look at clevelandaquarium.org website, it seems that they had only raised $150,000 cash for the construction as of early 2008, while trying to get an aquarium built since 1999 with little success.
From the PD article and on cleveland aquarium.org's website:
What happened to plans for a new Cleveland aquarium?
The plans remain afloat, though little progress has been made since a nonprofit group called Cleveland Aquarium Inc. was formed in 1999.
Christopher Bonar, the group's president, said many people are still enthusiastic about the idea of building an aquarium in downtown Cleveland. The old one at Gordon Park was closed in 1985, and the sea creatures were moved to the Cleveland
Metroparks Zoo, where they share a building with chimpanzees and leopards.
"There's a huge amount of interest out there among people who remember the old aquarium and Sea World and miss having an attraction like that in the region," said Bonar, who is an associate veterinarian at the zoo.
His group has been in quiet negotiations with the city and developers to find a site along the lakefront or on the banks of the Flats. But a deal has been held up by constantly shifting plans to move the port, build a convention center and medical mart, and redevelop the east bank of the Flats, he said.
Now that those projects seem to be gelling, Bonar's group is ready to make a splash. A professional fundraiser has been hired with an eye toward bringing in the $35 million to $50 million that will be needed. At this point, only about $150,000 has been raised, much of it from an anonymous foundation, Bonar and
Cleveland Aquarium Inc. trustees. Redesign of the Web site (clevelandaquarium.org) is almost finished, and a "provisional" architectural scheme has been drawn up, Bonar said. Almost $1 million worth of equipment from Sea World is waiting in storage. But a grand opening is easily three to five years down the road."