Newsday from New York, New York • 284

H8 gunJXKs PLAYGROUNDS Ul imes Square Exchanging Its Identity Restored theaters wax museum restaurants multiplexes basketball court and still more on the way By David Dent THE most famous dropping ball be the only attraction to draw crowds to Times Square on the eve of the year 2000 By then two new movie theaters with 38 screens 10 new restaurants a 48-story office tower and an of entertainment and shopping attractions will be open and just this piece of the $18 billion development makeover of Times Square Within the past seven years Times Square has shed much of its seedy skin in the new shadow of office towers restored historic theaters and a Disney store Since 1995 three theaters have been restored and 15 new stores totaling 80000 square feet have opened in the area including the Disney store in 1997 But still a large share of the new Times Square to open and some yet to be begun By the end of the year one of four new office towers the Conde Nast building will open also the planned July 4 debut of the complex on the north side of 42nd Street a block-long conglomeration of movies theaters stores and restaurants Across the street on the south side a food court and a 25-screen cin-eplex are scheduled to begin operation in November And in addition to the three theaters that have already been restored on 42nd Street another historic theater the Sel-wyn will reopen By 2002 the transformation will probably be complete with two new hotels (a 25-story Doubletree and a 45-story Westin) the rest of the office towers more theater restoration and a Madame wax museum opening on the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues where peep shows used to be is going to recognize the old 42nd says Cara Cahan president of The New 42nd Street a nonprofit organization responsible for the restoration of the theaters going to be wiped out of our With theaters sharing the spotlight with movies entertainment that draws a diversity of tourists New Yorkers and suburbanites is a key ingredient in the makeover One planner says Times Square will be place for New as well as for tourists plans said Charles Gargano chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation the state agency overseeing the redevelopment important that the street attract tourists" says Gargano it must also be a place for New Yorkers After all when in Paris you want to go where Parisians are not You always have to pay for a movie or play to be entertained A new sporting goods store is building a basketball court in public view Sneaker buyers can test the product with a game in front of people walking or stopping on the street always been a street for entertainment even in the bad times but it was dangerous said Gargano all people will feel comfortable coming The four office buildings planned totaling nearly 4 million square feet will make the area a mecca for employers The Conde Nast buiding which will house an ESPN sports bar and broadcast facility and a NASDAQ marketing center will be fol-lowed by a new headquarters for the Reuters wire service in 2001 Plans for the other two buildings are expected to be developed by Boston Properties Inc which yet secured the tenants for the office space according to the Empire State Development Corp There are still Bpaces that are marked unknown Empire State Development Corp has not found a tenant to restore and develop the historic Times Square Theater built in 1917 with 1000 seats on the north side of 42nd Street also the 40000-square-foot parking lot on 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue owned by the Milstein family co-owners of the New York Islanders The family has hired a team of development advisers for the area but proposed anything yet Even in the face of the redevelopment remnants of the dying Times Square still live on the edges For example across Eighth Avenue from 13-Walk between 42nd and 43rd Streets Show World dominates the block The large sex shop now devotes only 40 percent of its space to pornographic material to comply with new zoning rules that requires such places to apportion 60 percent of their floor space to nonporn ographic material matter says Rebecca Robertson the former president of the 42nd Street Development Prcrject Robertson says on the edges will be insignificant compared to the core of the -redevelopment project all she said going to be so strong David Dent is a freelance writer Photo by llaiaea The vest scale of the renovation has made construction seem as common as the attractions building.