Just as the American Dream mega-mall was about to shake free from what seems like the curse of Xanadu -- a 17 year history of false starts and funding problems that long stalled its opening -- the coronavirus pandemic arrived.

Now the newly completed DreamWorks Water Park sits idle a month after it was supposed to open. The Sea Life Aquarium that was supposed to debut next week is also stalled. And tenants who were ready to welcome shoppers don’t know when they’ll be able to turn on their cash registers.

As of April 8, not even construction is going on inside the 3 million square foot development in the Meadowlands.

It’s too soon to tell what the full impact of the shutdown will be. But one thing is clear; it came at a pivotal time for American Dream.

“We are using this time to think about our business model – what can we do now to ensure that we will not only survive this, but thrive,” an American Dream spokesperson said.

American Dream voluntarily closed March 16, days before Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the state to hunker down to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Until then, things seemed to be going well. The mega-mall at the Meadowlands saw nearly 800,000 visitors in its first three months, and that was with just 8% of the mega-mall open.

Triple Five, the project’s current and third developer, began its phased opening of American Dream in October with the unveiling of the Nickelodeon Universe theme park and The Rink, an NHL regulation-sized ice skating rink. Then, Big SNOW opened in December, followed by the only retailer so far, IT’SUGAR, a three-story candy department store. The project was about 90% leased as of January.

The planned November opening of the DreamWorks Water Park was put off until March because of construction delays. It managed to open for a sneak peek the weekend of March 7.

Now, the opening date for the next phase of American Dream is as uncertain as the economic implications of the coronavirus shutdown.

Still, American Dream and others who are invested in the project are looking at ways to stay afloat and come back from the crisis.

Triple Five, which also owns the Mall of America, told CNBC that it’s now looking to make American Dream 70% entertainment and just 30% retail, as opposed to the 55% entertainment and 45% retail plan the developer originally laid out.

″We are going to come out of this super strong ... really strong on the entertainment side,” Don Ghermezian, CEO of American Dream, told CNBC. “I think when [coronavirus] is over, people will be so stir crazy. Initially there will be some trepidation ... but I think we are going to have so many people.”

American Dream is already home to the country’s largest indoor theme park and water park. It also houses the country’s first indoor ski and snowboard park, Big SNOW, managed by SNOW Operating, which also runs Mountain Creek, a ski resort in Vernon.

“We’ve always seen the value in entertainment and will be expanding our offering,” said DanaMcHugh, a spokeswoman for American Dream.

Big SNOW had to furlough nearly 200 workers when the mall shut down.

It was a move that Hugh Reynolds, vice president of marketing and sales for SNOW Operating, said was an awful side effect of the pandemic.

“The every day workers who now find themselves without employment through no fault of their own.”

As a new business, Big SNOW itself is in a tough spot. It has been without incoming revenue since it closed five weeks ago and is responsible for a major capital investment it took on to open just months ago, he said.

“We are focusing on taking care of our people as best we can and have applied for various assistance in the forms of loans and grants,” Reynolds said.

It’s unclear what impact the shut down will have on Big SNOW going forward. “It’s hard to say with so much uncertainty still,” Reynolds said. “How long will this last? What will the world look like when the restrictions start to lift and we slowly begin to restart the economy? I don’t think any of us truly know what that will look like yet."

Another 20 American Dream tenants had been granted occupancy approvals at the time the state ordered non-essential businesses to close, according to the Department of Community Affairs.

“The pandemic has not affected the DCA plan review process for tenants in review and future tenant submittals,” a department spokesperson said.

“We were just at a point that it was going to get very real,” said Jim Kirkos, President and CEO of the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce, who has been a long-time advocate of the project. “People would’ve been getting a glimpse of the power of this.”

Looking on the bright side, he said, more of the mega-mall may be able to open at one time because of the delay caused by the pandemic.

And, Kirkos said, when American Dream does reopen, it could help reinvigorate entire region.

The mega-mall is located in Bergen County, which has been the hardest hit in the state by the virus. As of Saturday, it had 12,163 of state’s 81,420 cases of coronavirus and 741 of the state’s 4,070 deaths.

“The entire region can be lifted by American Dream opening and bringing some success to the region -- a picture of something positive after this dark time we’ve gone through,” he said.

For now, the only activity at American Dream is at an appointment-only coronavirus testing center that opened April 13. It’s geared toward first responders and frontline workers and is being run by Hackensack Meridian Health and Agile Urgent Care in partnership with the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association.

“We are thrilled to host a drive-thru COVID-19 testing center at American Dream,” McHugh said. “Community is at the heart of everything that we do, and now more than ever, it is important that we support each other – especially local first responders and frontline health care workers.”

Appointments can be scheduled from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. by calling Hackensack Meridian Health at 732-414-6852 or anytime with Agile Urgent Care at covid19.agileurgentcare.com.

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Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter@AllisonPries. Find NJ.com on Facebook.