Critics of a $352 million plan to revitalize Jekyll Island won a major victory Monday as the developer proposed slashing construction by two-thirds and scrapping plans to build condominiums and a convention center hotel.

The Jekyll Island Authority board unanimously adopted the new plan, which will cost about $100 million, at its Monday meeting. Residents and conservationists who battled the original proposal for a year burst into applause.

“I like what I see,” said Tise Eyler, a resident of the state-owned island who had criticized the initial plan. “They really accommodated us in a lot of ways. They reduced the scope.”

The new plan shrinks the area slated for new construction from 63 acres to 22 acres — the first change since September 2007, when developer Linger Longer Communities was chosen to lead the project.

The developer and the Jekyll Island Authority have struggled in the past year to balance a need to replace moldy, outdated hotels and convention facilities on the island with an outcry from critics saying their original plan was too big.

Many also complained that 277 proposed cottage condos, with an estimated sale price of $500,000, and a 400-room upscale convention hotel strayed from a 1950 state law that required the island to be accessible to Georgians of “average income.” It had once been a retreat for wealthy industrialists.

The upscale hotel and the condos have been dumped from the plan, as well as a new 141,000-square-foot convention center. The existing convention center, about half the size, will be gutted and modernized instead.

“We now have something that is a lot more consistent with a state park image than what we had before, which looked more like a Linger Longer private resort,” said David Egan of the Initiative to Protect Jekyll Island, a group favoring restrained development.

The revised plan still includes economy and a hotel with rooms priced at about $111 to $145 per night, and 160 timeshare suites. Overall, there are 510 proposed hotel rooms and timeshares, compared with 1,100 in the original plan.

Jim Langford, the project manager for Linger Longer, said public criticism drove the changes. But he also acknowledged the grim economy played a role.

“You start out thinking you’re going to spend $350 million and then, gee, do you want to do that order and magnitude of investment in an environment like this?” Langford said. “But that wasn’t the overriding factor in this decision. It truly was what the public wants and what makes sense for Jekyll.”

The revisions cater mostly to middlebrow tourists and small conventions of Rotary Clubs, law-enforcement associations and trade groups who make up the bulk of Jekyll Island visitors.

The Jekyll Island Authority and Linger Longer plan to finalize the deal in December. Langford said construction likely won’t break ground until December 2009.

Even critics have agreed some new construction is needed to woo tourists and convention groups who have forsaken Jekyll Island for other beach getaways. Tourism has fallen from a peak of 2.1 million visitors nearly a decade ago to 1.49 million in fiscal 2008.

A recent study concluded Jekyll Island will need to draw 2.65 million visitors annually — 500,000 more than its best year — to cover operating costs and pay for a $99 million to-do list of repairs and renovations by 2023.

Jones Hooks, director of the Jekyll Island Authority, said it wasn’t clear whether revenues would meet that goal after the redevelopment plan dropped the upscale amenities.

“There may need to be additional amenities, but that would be a decision of the board,” Jones said. “This is the plan. This is it. Who knows what the future holds.”