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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Las Vegas Hilton Boldly Going To Build ‘Star Trek’ Park

From Wire Reports

The Las Vegas Hilton casino-hotel said it will build a mini-theme park based on the “Star Trek” property in a bid for adults at a time other casinos are emphasizing the all-family market.

Hilton expects construction on the 70,000-square-foot, two-level attraction to begin “soon,” with the theme park expected to open in late 1996 - coincidentally the 30th anniversary of “Star Trek” - and draw 1.25 million admissions a year.

With a starship bridge, costumed aliens on the prowl and a battle sequence experience via a projection system/motion-simulator, “Star Trek: The Experience” will be able to handle 1,000 visitors per hour.

The Las Vegas Hilton and Caesars Palace are the gaming mecca’s few “high roller” casinos that cater to big spenders. “Star Trek’s” appeal to adults will be a good mesh with the Las Vegas Hilton’s clientele, Hilton brass said. The hotel has 3,174 rooms and suites, although its gaming area is relatively small. A new gaming area extension will be built through which foot traffic will pass to the “Star Trek” attraction.

NBC snares ‘Jurassic’

NBC has scheduled the network TV premiere of Steven Spielberg’s theatrical blockbuster “Jurassic Park” for May 7, according to sources at the network.

NBC would not comment on the date. The network has not even publicly acknowledged reports that it paid $50 million to Universal and Amblin Entertainment for exclusive network broadcast rights to “Jurassic Park,” the highest-grossing movie in history, along with the Oscar-winning “Schindler’s List.”

But the scheduling of “Jurassic Park” has already caused a shuffle at ABC. T

The first night of the new Stephen King miniseries “The Langoliers” had been set to air May 7 on ABC, which would have put it head-to-head with “Jurassic.” The four-hour project has been moved up a week to start April 30.

Hot news on SI ‘Swimsuit’ video

“The 1995 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Video,” based on an upcoming NBC primetime special, will go on sale exclusively at Blockbuster’s almost 3,500 video and music stores throughout the United States and Canada on Feb. 15.

That’s the same day the swimsuit issue hits the stands.