Virtual Reality
A Little History -- A Lot of Fun!
by
Bonnie Theard

General Motors Corp. is expanding its market ties to include sports and entertainment. It has signed agreements to be the exclusive automotive sponsor of the new Women's NBA league and the Star Southfield Entertainment Centre in Detroit, MI.

RTKL, Dallas, has completed phase one of Southside Works, a 65-acre, mixed-use redevelopment project located in Pittsburgh, PA. Operating on the former site of a steel mill, this joint venture of Soffers Organization and Galbreath Company promise 210,000 square feet of retail/entertainment - including a 24-plex, a new 100-slip marina, a 200-room hotel, 400-600 housing units an 1.6 million square feet of office space. Opening spring 1998.

NBC has received approval from Burbank's City Council for A 1.6 million-square-foot, 20-year, $200-million master studio expansion plan. the plan calls for six additional sound stages, four new 15-story office buildings, parking structures, widening streets, upgrading intersections and new on/off ramps from the freeway. Phase One should be complete in 2000.

O'Brien Kreitzberf, a Dames & Moore Group company, has been named program manager for the rehabilitation of St. Louis Forest Park. The $87-million master plan, to be carried out in five phases over six years, calls for rehabilitation of the 1300-acre park's infrastructure, buildings, golf course, and lake system. The park houses an 83-acre zoo, the St. Louis Art Museum, History Museum, Science Center and the outdoor Muny theater. It averages 10 million visitors annually.

Riviera Holding Corp. and Eagle Gaming, LP have signed a letter of intent to build a new casino in Black Hawk, CO (near Denver) for $50 million. The 70,000-square-foot site is designed for 1,000 machines and a 500-space parking garage, making it the largest in Colorado.

Coney Island - Since before the turn of the century the name has been synonymous with fun. For Michael Getlan, Director of Operations for Amusement Consultants, son of Mel and grandson of Isidore, it was an overlooked natural for the new New York. "We heard that New York, New York casino in Las Vegas was being built. Someone gave us one of their promotional brochures and we recognized immediately that they didn't have a Coney Island. They had Broadway, they had Central Park but no Coney Island! We proposed to bring the sights, the smells, the sounds and the tastes of Coney Island to New York, New York." Through the magic of modern technology that's just what they've done in the 32,000-square-foot family entertainment center dubbed Coney Island Emporium

Nathan's Hotdogs - the same Nathan's that opened on Coney Island in 1916 - provides the tastes. Aromasys, Inc. provides the smell of cotton candy and candy apples throughout the facility. Edwards Technologies supplies the sound of people screaming as they ride overhead on the coaster. You will also hear gun shots and squealing tires in the laser tag arena and traffic sounds in the bumper cabs. This is the largest entertainment center in any casino in Vegas.

According to the effervescent Getlan, "Architecturally, we designed the space to reflect three different parks on Coney Island - Steeple Chase Park, Luna Park and Dreamland. Unfortunately, we were working in an area that was supposed to be catering hall. We found that the space where Dreamland was going had a low ceiling. So we changed Dreamland into the Tunnel of Love, which really turned out to be much better."

Three generations of providing America with arcade entertainment has its perks. Coney Island Emporium has become a test site for the newest, hottest products from a variety of distributors. "Among our 160 coin-op games we have the only Super G Racer from Sega. We have Sega's House of the Dead, Sega's Hover, Bromley's Thunder Run, and an Electric Chair. We have gone out of our way to find the best coin-operated equipment. We want people to play. We want people to smile. That's our job," concludes Getlan.

Amusement Consultants, based in New Rochelle, NY, provides planning, design, and operational consulting services to the entertainment and amusement industries.