In 1927, the San Diego Zoo had ambitious plans to expand not only by land but also by sea. James Coffroth, sports promoter and entrepreneur, donated the funds to bring the Star of India ship to San Diego, to be permanently docked in the harbor and made into an aquarium facility as part of the Zoological Society of San Diego. An aquarium committee met regularly to create the plans for the aquarium and oversee initial construction, which proceeded at a steady clip for about a year. But then the stock market crash of 1929 hit, throwing endeavors like this one into turmoil and uncertainty. Once the realities of the Great Depression set in, the plans and funding for the aquarium could not recover, and the project fell by the wayside.