Lego fans, it’s time to get really, really excited: Europe could be about to get a brand new Legoland. This one will be in Belgium, making it the continent’s fifth theme park dedicated to a world of tiny plastic bricks and weird cylinder-headed people. Ree-sult!
Yesterday (August 30), a ‘letter of intent’ was signed by Merlin Entertainments (who build and run Legolands worldwide) and both the regional and federal governments of Charleroi, Belgium.
The new theme park is set to be built on a former industrial site near Charleroi Airport, which is about an hour’s train ride south of Brussels. It could cost as much as €400 million (£344 million, $399 million) to build, should bring about 1,000 new jobs to the local area and could be up and running by as soon as 2027.
In Europe, Legolands already exist in the UK, Denmark, Germany and Italy. And for UK Lego-lovers, the prospect of a Legoland Belgium is exceptionally exciting – thanks to Eurostar, Brussels is very easy to reach indeed from London.
While signing a letter of intent doesn’t mean the Belgium Legoland will definitely go ahead, it makes it very, very likely. A final decision will be made on the project by the end of the year. Bricks ahoy.
Did you see those cool ‘rainbow cloud’ photos are (probably) fake?
Plus: you can now host your wedding reception in Antarctica.