GALVESTON — Could Galveston replace Austin as the music capital of Texas? Members of Moody Gardens’ board of directors think so.

The not-for-profit entertainment complex could soon include a $150 million performing-arts center and outside-activity area designed to attract local, statewide and national artists to the island, according to board meeting minutes.

If the three Moody Foundation trustees, who oversee the charitable trust’s almost $2 billion in assets, approve the project, the center could host its first concert within the next three years.

Board chairman Doug McLeod said he didn’t want to discuss the plans in detail because he had not yet presented anything to the trustees.

“All of the ideas are in the developmental, conceptual stage only,” he said.

“The trustees may adopt just what we recommend, but that’s not always been the case.”

If approved, it would be Moody Gardens’ sixth phase of development.

The board has hired the Gabe Group, a Houston consulting firm, to conduct a feasibility study for the project.

If the research determines that the arts complex would not draw more visitors to the island or keep them here longer, the board will drop the idea, McLeod said.

The board-meeting minutes describe the planned complex as a city within a city that would tie the existing Moody Gardens attractions together.

Shops, restaurants and smaller music venues would surround the main entertainment stage area, modeled after Universal Studio’s CityWalk venue in Los Angeles.

Board members also want to include a new polar-bear exhibit in the expansion plans.

While consultants evaluate the project, Moody Gardens is conducting its own market test with a summer-concert series.

For the past few years, the Moody Gardens Convention Center has hosted the Galveston Island Musicals. This year, the group has moved to the Galveston Island Convention Center on the Seawall.

To replace the entertainment, Moody Gardens formed a new non-profit organization, Island Star Performances, which organized this year’s concert series with Radio Disney. Acts booked so far include family-friendly favorites B5 and the Jonas Bros.

Moody Gardens board members are not the first to visualize Galveston as a live-music Mecca.

George Mitchell pitched the idea of a Branson, Mo.-style venue to the island’s Hotel and Lodging Association in 1999.

McLeod said he was hopeful the consultants’ research would prove that the idea would be well received by both locals and visitors.

“I think people would get excited about this because we have so few venues for evening entertainment here,” he said, noting that downtown nighttime entertainment mostly catered to adults.

“It would be good for the island.”

The Moody Gardens complex, along Offatts Bayou on the island’s near West End, already features a rain-forest pyramid, a large aquarium, an IMAX theater and a hotel and convention center, among other attractions. It opened in 1986 as Hope Arena, a hippotherapy center for people with physical and emotional disabilities. The facility has grown, with a major expansion about every three years.

The last major project enlarged the hotel by 125 rooms and expanded the convention space to 60,000 square feet.

Moody Gardens leases its 252 acres from the Galveston Park Board of Trustees. The partnership began in 1989 and brings the city about $91,000 in annual lease payments and $326,000 in lieu of taxes.

Last year, the park board extended the lease for 12 years, to 2046.

Earlier this year, the city signed a deal with Moody Gardens to improve and operate the municipal golf course for 40 years. The $14 million renovation should be complete by April 1.

The park board must approve any Moody Gardens expansion and all improvements at the site become city property.