Area Firm Builds Ride at World Trade Center

A small La Crescenta company has won the contract to redesign one of the best-known tourist attractions in the world--the observation deck of the World Trade Center in New York.

Already heavily into production, Dellmont Leisure will construct an amusement park-style ride that will simulate a helicopter trip through Manhattan. The observation deck closes Sunday for the three-month renovation.

Dellmont’s chairman, David Schweninger, a former Disney ride designer, began working on the project more than eight years ago. His company beat out such heavy hitters as Sony Entertainment and Time Warner for the contract.

Schweninger said that what really impressed the Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Center, was the diversity of Dellmont’s concept, which includes a variety of attractions for the acre of space at the top of the building.

“The Port Authority loved the idea of a ride that takes you on a helicopter tour through New York City. It takes you from the Verrazzano Bridge through Central Park, the United Nations and then back to the Trade Center. It is a unique thing, going over New York,” added Schweninger.

But what clinched the deal was that the ride was not “brutal” and would not “throw” passengers around. He said Dellmont has a patented design that allows even visitors in wheelchairs access to the ride, a first for the industry.

The helicopter simulation will last about six minutes and will include a pre-show while tourists wait in line next to a model of Manhattan with 500 individual buildings.

“What I saw in the project years ago was that the observation deck encapsulates a visit to New York. This is a place for people to come, particularly foreigners, who want to see what New York is all about. It gives you a real feeling of New York,” said Schweninger.

In effect, Schweninger will be creating a New York without the grime or crime, following the trend in the themed attraction business toward building an idealized version of a city--as Universal’s City Walk does in Los Angeles.

Schweninger grew up in West Los Angeles and sees no irony in a California business creating an idealized slice of New York City in New York City.

“You have to look at Hollywood and Southern California as the geological center of show business,” he said. “When we do things in Turkey, Japan or Spain, it is still show biz and the technology and understanding comes from here. Not that it doesn’t exist in New York. . . . But I can interpret what New York buildings look like in a model as well as a New Yorker.”

The Dellmont plan is a major change from the observation deck as it now stands. “It has never been redesigned or turned into an attraction since the Port Authority first opened it in the 1970s,” said Virginia E. Schweninger, vice president of Dellmont Leisure. Located at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan, the observation deck reigns over the World Trade Towers, offering a one-of-a-kind view from the 107th floor.

“If this is the first stop on a visitor’s tour of New York, this will give them an idea of where to go and what to see,” said Virginia Schweninger.

Photographs commissioned for the project have been digitized into floor-to-ceiling-length wallpaper featuring the history of different parts of the city. “The interior walls reflect what you are seeing outside,” said Schweninger. “We’ve taken vignettes and run them into each other. Where there is a strange or ethnic slant, we play it up.”

The fact that Schweninger’s small company was pitted against much larger firms didn’t faze Schweninger at all. He said he has kept Dellmont to about a dozen employees for a reason--to better control the end result.

Schweninger’s background includes 22 years at Disney, where he helped design such attractions as the Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and Country Bear Jamboree. After leaving Disney, Schweninger helped design the 30-foot-tall King Kong for Universal Studios’ Kongfrontation attraction. In 1984, the Olympic closing ceremonies featured a hovering spaceship that his group designed. Knott’s Berry Farm entrusted him to design their Kingdom of Dinosaurs. Michael Jackson used Schweninger for his Victory Tour’s robotics lighting effects.

Almost a decade ago, entrepreneurs Don Gregory and Dick Belkin flabbergasted Schweninger with their idea for the World Trade Center--a $40-million proposal that included building show space on the plaza between the two towers.

“It was too big for its own good,” said Schweninger.

The project became more streamlined, and so did the budget. Gregory and Belkin brought Ogden Entertainment, a subsidiary of multinational Ogden Services Corp., to the table.

The New York and New Jersey Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Center, last year awarded the 11-year lease to Ogden, based on Dellmont’s design.

Dellmont is handling the design and engineering, based on a $4- million contract with Ogden, and is subcontracting some of the fabrication work.

The design includes a food court modeled after a subway car, minus the graffiti, and a sitting area reminiscent of Central Park, complete with twinkling lights similar to those at Tavern on the Green.

And, of course, shops, both upscale and pure kitsch, are scattered throughout the viewing deck.

Upon reopening on March 18, tickets to the trade center observation deck will increase in price from $8 to $10.