Branson's new hip tune

0 Comments | USA TODAY, June, 2006 | by Kitty Bean Yancey

Downtown Branson is going uptown.

A $420 million shopping/dining/entertainment complex called Branson Landing officially opens next weekend, aiming to lure more affluent visitors to this Missouri tour-bus mecca.

Branson Landing developers compare the project -- in which the city of Branson is a partner -- to Baltimore's Inner Harbor and San Antonio's Riverwalk.

There eventually will be more than 100 restaurants and shops on the 95-acre site on Lake Taneycomo, including a Bass Pro Shop (it opened Thursday), a NASCAR store, Missouri's first Belk department store and a Brookstone outlet. In October, Hilton will open a 243-room boutique-style hotel, with large bathrooms and in-room flat-screen TVs.

A big draw will be Branson Landing's dancing fountains,...