Xanadu Complex At The Meadowlands Getting New Name And Look
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP)-- Out with Xanadu, in with The American Dream.
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and mall developer Triple Five laid out ambitious new plans Tuesday for the troubled Xanadu retail and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands.
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It'll be renamed "The American Dream'' and the developers say the $3.7 billion megamall will be even bigger than their own Mall of America near Minneapolis.
It will have a glass-domed, indoor amusement park and water park with views of the city, an ice skating rink, stores, a movie theater and indoor ski slope.
"Skis, snowboards, everything you need it's all there," Paul Ghermezian with Triple Five told CBS 2's Christine Sloan.
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"It's an extraordinary destination for them to come and enjoy themselves and spend time with their families," Christie said. "I do have some issues with the way this building looks and it's getting a makeover, it's getting a new name, it's getting a new look."
They want to be done by the fall of 2013 so it's ready for the Super Bowl to be played in the New Meadowlands Stadium next door.
Christie and Triple Five said the expansion of the never-occupied Xanadu project to 3 million square feet will generate 9,000 construction jobs.
The state will help finance the project with $200 million in sales tax incentives.
Last month, Christie called Xanadu the ugliest building in New Jersey -- and possibly America.
Jon Hanson, who headed a committee appointed by Christie to study the future of casinos, racetracks and Xanadu, said the complex needed to shed its Kubla Khan-inspired name because "nobody in New Jersey knows what a Xanadu is."
What do you think of the new name and look? Let us know below
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