Merlin Entertainments Group, an international theme park and visitor attraction operator based in England, in July plans to begin building a 33,000 square-foot Legoland Discovery Center at Westchester”™s Ridge Hill in Yonkers.
The $12 million attraction, expected to open in late spring 2013, will be the company”™s fifth Legoland center in the U.S. The indoor play centers are designed for families with children 3 to 10 years old.
The Ridge Hill project is part of an aggressive global growth plan by Merlin, the world”™s second largest visitor attraction operator after Disney.
Glenn Earlam, managing director of Merlin”™s Midway Attractions Operating Group, in a press release said he believes that “Ridge Hill is destined to become a very popular leisure ”˜destination”™ not just for local Westchester County family visitors, but also for those from the greater metropolitan area – a catchment area with a high proportion of families with young children – so exactly the right location for us, and for a Legoland Discovery Center.”
He said the family attraction should deliver “significant incremental business to both the mall and to the area as a whole.”
Merlin already works with Ridge Hill”™s owner, Brooklyn-based Forest City Ratner Companies, in Manhattan, where Merlin operates Madame Tussaud”™s Wax Museum. Ridge Hill formally opened last October.
Kathy Welch, Forest City Ratner”™s senior vice president for retail development, said LEGO models for the Ridge Hill attraction will be made in Merlin”™s specialist studios around the world and shipped in during construction for next year”™s opening.
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