Planners have mapped out the first five years of Bermuda's biggest ever regeneration scheme -- including a plan to open the Island's fifth cinema.

More details of the 30-year project to rebuild the old US Naval Air Station at St. David's were revealed last night at a second public meeting in Hamilton.

They include a proposal to reopen a former Navy theatre on the site as a working cinema.

And it has been revealed that high-level talks are already getting underway to ship Hamilton's container docks out to Southside by the end of the project.

The Bermuda Land Development Company has also given green assurances as part of its multi-million dollar blueprint.

The first five-year plan for Southside, obtained by The Royal Gazette , shows 54 former officers' quarters will be renovated and leased as houses by the year 2001.

Old barracks which were not built to withstand hurricanes will also be demolished to make way for a Business Enterprise Park by the year 1999.

Developers want to rent out 380,000 square feet of office and industrial space in the first five years.

And 117 acres of parkland -- Bermuda's biggest green space in a confined area -- will be created by 2003. The open spaces will include a maze of walking, jogging and biking trails.

The Navy left a working cinema at the site as well as a huge church, their former chapel.

The New Testament Church of God has already signed a lease to move into the church later this month.

And tenders are also being invited to operate the 350-seat cinema on the site, which has stood empty since the Navy left Bermuda in 1995.

Carl Musson, the BLDC's chief executive officer, said: "We have a policy of not undermining St. George's businesses and we will do everything we can to make sure new industry complements the town, instead of standing in competition.

"Any new cinema here would obviously be in competition with the Somers Playhouse.

"But we would love the theatre to be working again. We do have to be commercially viable and opening the cinema would be one way of gaining valuable revenue.'' Extensive work on the entire 420-acre redevelopment site will begin next April, to coincide with the new financial year.

The BLDC is already planning a St. David's village plaza to be open by 2002.

And Corregidor Avenue, the former main road into the old Navy base, will be opened up to traffic as a second major route into St. David's by the year 2000.

The new-look Southside will include re-routed bus services, community centres, housing for elderly people, a youth club and day care centre.

There could also be a boat marina at Higgs Bay, shops and restaurants.

Mr. Musson told The Royal Gazette the pioneering plans included demolishing unsafe buildings and cleaning up minor pollution spills.

He said: "We do not have a major problem with pollution. There has been some asbestos found in buildings and there are a few patches of oil which need to be cleaned up.

"But that is not causing us major difficulties. This is an environmentally sound project.'' Shrubs and trees will also be grown on the old St. David's dump until environmental tests prove it is completely safe.

Government is already urging the Americans to remove containers full of asbestos left at the site.

And the US Senate will decide early in the New Year whether or not to help in the clean-up process.

But Mr. Musson said there were no radiation problems on the site.

New cinema He added: "Right now, what happens to the asbestos is not our concern. It is out of our hands and it is safely contained in any event.

"There is no radiation here and we just want to press on with what will end up as an extremely impressive development.

"All the tests so far show that the dump is now completely safe. But before we open it up as a public recreation area, we want to be entirely sure.

"So we will simply plant shrubs on that part of the site until we are absolutely convinced.'' At the first public meeting on Monday, Marginal Wharf and the potential effects of development on the St. David's environment were the main items of concern.

The meeting included audio-visual presentations and placards with photographs and design drawings.

Each gave information on preliminary plans for the Southside scheme, as well as different development projects for the Island's other former Baselands -- at Daniel's Head, Tudor Hill and Morgan's Point.

Members of the consortium behind all the plans answered questions on each development..

These included Scott Hunter of Arthur Andersen, Stanley Kennedy of SGK Urban Design Associates and BLDC spokesman Don Grearson.

Retired Police officer Brian Flook, a resident of St. David's for the last 15 years, said: "St. David's has been out on a limb all these years and I am most concerned about the container port. If they get that squared away I will be happy.

"They seem to be doing a good job. This is a vast property and we cannot waste it. I wish them all the luck in the world.'' One woman said she worried about how pollution from airplanes and the construction of new buildings would affect the environment.

NEW HOMES FOR OLD -- A former US Navy officer's barracks, one of 54 at the old St. David's base, stands ready for a complete overhaul before it can be leased out as a three-bedroom house. Planners this week revealed plans for the first five years of their major redevelopment plan at the Southside site.