Multimillion dollar re-design for Times Square

Multimillion dollar re-design for Times Square 

(NEW YORK- NEW YORK ) The architects behind the National September 11 Memorial & Museum have unveiled their yet to be finalized plans to spruce up the Theater District's cross roads of the world . The pedestrianized area of Times Square will get  a multimillion-dollar face lift.Under the new proposal the curbs will be removed and the shabby blue-and- beige painted asphalt replaced with stone or concrete. The large benches and chairs will be replace the red metal seats currently scattered around the area reducing the clutter.

The street will be leveled to remove traces of the old curbs and sidewalks, and it will be embedded with stainless steel "pucks" no bigger than a nickel to reflect the lights coming off Times Square's vibrant super sized signs and lighting. The number of light poles will be reduced.

Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, who has been working closely with the architects,"We wanted to reduce the clutter ... and create a unified identity for the heart of Times Square". he went on ,"It'll look dramatically different, but we like that in some ways the design is about more being less,"

Construction is scheduled to begin next fall and be completed by 2014. So far "The general reaction was very favorable," said Wally Rubin, Community Board 5 district manager. "It's taken years of thought and work and dialogue to make Times Square the kind of place that looks good and works for the purposes that it's designed for." continued Rubin .

Officials are hoping the zone, running from W. 42nd to W. 47th Sts., will provide a place for tourists to congregate while still enabling frenetic New Yorkers who live and work in the area to pass through unhindered.