For now, it’s a conceptual bridge to nowhere.
But it appears that a massive “connector” will be a crucial component in plans for the long-delayed American Dream retail complex — aka Xanadu — under development for the Meadowlands Sports Complex..
The three-story building would connect the stadium complex with a new amusement park and water park, according to the Star-Ledger in Newark. The idea was to have the site operating in time for the 2014 Super Bowl, which will be played in New Jersey, but hopes for that have dimmed.
The proposal has not yet been aired publicly, but the Star-Ledger says the bridge would accommodate an atrium, an ice rink and retail booths, and rise over a four-lane roadway. Officials at Triple Five, the Canadian-based development company looking to construct the property, would not comment about their plans or the proposed bridge, citing ongoing negotiations with the current stadium tenants, the Giants and Jets. The teams sued last year, claiming that the project would create massive game-day gridlock around MetLife Stadium.
A spokeswoman for the two National Football League teams said that the original proposal called for a relatively small walkway from the complex to the amusement parks.
“The teams have always been troubled about the issues of traffic and congestion for our fans,” the spokeswoman, Karen Kessler, told the paper. “This very large proposed structure, to be suspended over a four-lane roadway, bears no relation to the originally proposed small pedestrian bridge and would need to be carefully analyzed for its impact on the site, traffic and congestion.”
Triple Five, which owns the sprawling West Edmunton Mall in Canada and the Mall of America in Minnesota, took over the project in 2010, and promptly announced plans to incorporate a movie theater, indoor ski slope and hundreds of shops and restaruants.
Responding to the teams’ court actions, a Superior Court judge ruled last summer that the lawsuit was premature, pending final approval by the Sports and Exposition Authority of the revised master plan for the site. The authority oversees the project. But in April, the authority did not vote on the plan, saying it hopes an agreement could be worked out between the teams and Triple Five.
