KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Developers may ask taxpayers to foot 80 percent of the cost of a proposed Legoland amusement park and aquarium in Lee's Summit, KMBC's Micheal Mahoney reported.

Mahoney said he obtained a document that shows developers would pay for most of the office park, retail shops and conference center. But $4 out of every $5 to build the big attractions -- Legoland and an aquarium -- would come from tax money.

The idea of putting Legoland somewhere in the metro has been around for awhile. Olathe, Kan., recently said no and now developers are looking at Lee's Summit at the intersection of Highway 50 and Interstate 470.

The developers' document said that Legoland and the aquarium will cost over $227 million. In the plan, 82 percent of that would come from city and state tax breaks and tax increment financing. Eighteen percent of it would come from private money

The Red Development Corporation is handling the project. Executive Dan Lowe called the plan just "an internal exercise to see if there are sufficient sources for the project." Mahoney reported that Lowe called it "extremely conceptual."

Lowe also told Mahoney that the plan can work if the city and state buy in.

Developers have not officially pitched the plan to the city. That will happen next week. Lowe also said that the entire project -- the amusement park, aquarium, office park and retail and a conference center -- comes to almost $540 million. When that's figured in, the taxpayer costs drops to a 65 percent/35 percent private-to-public split.

But this would be only the second Legoland in America and only the fifth in the world. So why the need for 82 percent of the money to come from the public?

Red Development Executive David Clafin said people are not going to come from hundreds of miles just to see another store. But with a worldwide attraction such as Legoland, the metro and in particular, Lee's Summit will benefit, Clafin said.

Lee's Summit state Rep. Brian Yates said he was surprised to learn that 82 percent of the cost of the park and aquarium would come from tax money. Yates told Mahoney that might make it tough to get state approval for the project.