Jaunuary 7 [8:30 EDT] -- The surviving members of the Grateful Dead are solidifying plans to build a large complex in their hometown of San Francisco to be called Terrapin Station, name for the band's 1977 album of the same name.

The idea of creating a Dead mecca as a gathering place for the band's traditionally wanderlust fans has been tossed around often since the death of bandleader Jerry Garcia in 1995, but longtime Dead spokesperson Dennis McNally tells the Associated Press that the dream will soon be a reality. He adds, however, that their hoped for 1999 New Years Eve completion date, a night that will be marked by a reunion of the remaining members, is now appearing optimistic.

A site has yet to be confirmed although the planned 65,000 sq. ft., $60 million building is being proposed for one of two areas in downtown San Francisco according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The paper reports that the current plans call for the structure to house two theaters, a restaurant and possibly even a hotel and apartment complex. It adds that if all goes according to plan, Grateful Dead Productions should be ready to officially announce the project in about six weeks.

The theme will obviously revolve around the band with historic memorabilia including concert footage and even an area for holographs, says the Chronicle. But McNally tells AP the site will not be a museum, a dirty word in his books. "Museums are oriented toward the past. They're static," McNally said. "This will be experimental, phenomenally high-tech."

Paying for the project is unlikely to be a hardship. AP reports that more than $1 million from sales of the band's three-CD set released last fall has already been assigned to the project, and that's a drop in the bucket when it comes to monies generated by the Dead since their untimely demise.

Acccording to the Marin Independent Journal, the band is selling 500,000 CDs a year of material from their vaults, and Grateful Dead Productions also received royalties from the sale of another 500,000 albums that the band recorded with Arista and Warner Bros.. Their merchandising sales the final year of their existence generated close to $20 million.

Meanwhile, Grateful Dead Productions is also issuing records by the producing albums by the band's surviving members and others, including the recently released "Another Stoney Evening," a 1971 performance of David Crosby and Graham Nash. An album by Backbone, featuring Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, is being released next week.