Times have changed since 1996, when the American Dream mall plan was pitched. Here's how

Sunrise, sunset. Swiftly fly the years.

Twenty-three years, to be precise. That's how long American Dream — a.k.a. Xanadu, a.k.a. Meadowlands Mills — has been in development, since the notion of a gigantic Meadowlands entertainment complex was first broached in…

When was it? 1996?

Seriously?

Plenty of seedlings have turned to sunflowers in the years — now decades — during which politicians, financiers, environmentalists, and giant mega-corporations squabbled over that gleaming white pleasure dome in the Jersey marshes. Four presidents have come, and three have gone, during those years. There were kids, not yet born in 1996, who are now old enough to order a drink at the "For the Win Gastropub" when American Dream finally — finally! — opens on Oct. 25.

Anything as old as American Dream has seen a lot of history.

Think of it! Statesmen and -women have come and gone, empires have risen and fallen, technologies undreamed-of in 1996 are now part of our everyday lives. If we could ask American Dream what it's seen in its long life, it could — like grandpa —  tell a tale.

So let's fire up the time machine, and take a little trip back to 1996 — when a company called Mills Corp. had a modest proposal: a 2.1 million square-foot Meadowlands shopping center, to be built on 206 acres of wetlands in Carlstadt. 

1996

1996! It was a simpler time. People were just starting to discover a strange new thing called The Internet. President Bill Clinton — you probably heard about him in history class — was being challenged in his second White House run by a man named Bob Dole. Michael Jordan (he's the Jordan your sneakers are named after) helped the Chicago Bulls set an NBA record. Hootie & The Blowfish, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston all had hit albums on "CDs," a music format you may have seen in your parents' attic. The iPhone had not been invented yet. People walked around with "cell phones" that looked like walkie-talkies!

2001

So now, it's a new century. And there's a new Meadowlands site: after years of protests by environmental groups, acting New Jersey governor Donald T. DiFrancesco proposes building the Meadowlands Mills entertainment complex on already-developed land in East Rutherford, near the Continental Airlines Arena (as it was called then).

So what else happened in 2001? Think hard. Remember Wikipedia and the iPod? Both were introduced that year. Folks flocked to the first  "Harry Potter," "Shrek" and "Lord of the Rings" films. Then, following the terrible events of Sept. 11, Americans finally agree to put aside their differences and come together for the good of the country. And we know how long that lasted.

Story continues below the gallery.

2002

The Meadowlands complex is now six years old. And to celebrate, it has a new name. Xanadu is what Mills/Mack-Cali, the developer chosen by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, chooses to call its stately pleasure dome. (One of the two rejected developers, Minnesota's Mall of America, will be back).

Who could forget 2002?  The Euro was introduced. The Anaheim Angels defeated the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Everyone went to see "Spider-Man." And New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani received an honorary knighthood from the Queen Elizabeth II of England. Arise, Sir Rudy!

2004

This is the year the Sports Authority signed a 75-year lease for Xanadu. The year our happily-married governor, Jim McGreevey, appeared at a gala press conference with supermodel Christie Brinkley and Chris Harrison of "The Bachelor." 

Elsewhere in the news: this is the year Howard Dean screamed, the NFL's Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan, and GM rolled out its last Oldsmobile. It was the year everyone listened to "Hey Ya" by OutKast and "Yeah" by Usher (feat. Lil Jon and Ludacris). Construction on The Freedom Tower, a project that took almost as long as American Dream, finally began on July 4.

2006

This was the year Colony Capital Acquisitions announced plans to take over Xanadu from the financially-troubled Mills/Mack-Cali.

Meanwhile, Democrats regained control of both houses, Pittsburgh defeated Seattle in the Super Bowl, Saddam Hussein was executed, Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was album of the year, Italy won the World Cup, and the solar system lost a planet. Pluto was now, officially, a "dwarf" world.

Already, the Meadowlands project had dragged on so long, the fundamental configuration of the universe had changed.

2007

The big news, in the Xanadu saga, was the "observation wheel": the proposed "London Eye"-style Ferris wheel that would give sightseers a commanding view of the New Jersey Turnpike, Route 3, and Newark Liberty Airport. Whatever happened to that?

Meanwhile, you might remember these news items: there was a troop surge in Iraq, former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed in a bombing, an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that global warming was "likely caused by human activity," and in the U.S., the minimum wage increased from $5.15 to a whopping $5.85. Oh, and Steve Jobs introduced a little thing called the iPhone. 

Coming soon (finally):American Dream is set to open in six weeks. We finally got a look inside

American Dream's forgotten past:Meadowlands' swamps were saved by local environmentalists

Getting there:NJ Transit releases American Dream transit plan

2008

This was a bad year for Xanadu. People had already been muttering about the facade, all too visible from the Turnpike: an unappetizing test-pattern of contrasting colors that made the eyes ache. Now the Toronto architect was summoned by the sports authority to answer for it. "It looks like something my 4-year-old granddaughter might build with old Legos," said state Sen. Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck.

But then, 2008 was not such a good year for anybody. Two words: the economy.

2011

Re-enter the Triple Five Group, parent company of Mall of America, which announces a takeover of operations. They rename the place "American Dream Meadowlands" and promise a renovation of the much-hated exterior, along with the addition of amusement parks and water parks.

It was a promising new start — in a year that also saw Osama bin Laden killed, Whitey Bulger captured, Wall Street occupied, the Packers winning the Super Bowl, Adele on the music charts, the oppressed rise up in such bestsellers as "The Hunger Games" and "The Help."  It was an age of hope. Surely, for American Dream, the worst was past.

2018

Triple Five promised, in August, that American Dream would open "next spring." Prince Harry and Meghan Markle promised to love and honor. Kim Jong-un promised that North Korea would denuclearize. Promises, promises…

The story continues below the gallery.

2019

First the developers said, in March, that the opening would be pushed back to late summer. Then in May, they announced the opening would be in the fall.

Now — barring some unforeseen glitch — a small portion of the dazzling super-mall and amusement center, with its roller coasters, world-class shops and restaurants, and artificial ski slope, will open Oct. 25.

Just be glad you lived long enough to see it.

Email: beckerman@northjersey.com; Twitter: @jimbeckerman1