Merlin Confirms: Potential LEGOLAND Resort Planned for Belgium
© © 2016 LOCK + LAND, Chip Litherland
Last Friday, Merlin Entertainments (Merlin) officially announced their intention to expand their presence in Europe and specifically in the Benelux/Northern France region, and thus to be looking for a site for the potential creation of a LEGOLAND resort in Belgium. Accordingly, the British operating group, in cooperation with the Walloon public investment fund SOGEPA, has set its sights on a site in Gosselies, a section of the town of Charleroi, for which several site studies are now to be carried out. A LEGOLAND resort with theme park and accommodation is to be developed on about two thirds of the site (70 hectares), while the remaining part of the site could be considered as a possible area for future expansion or a green zone.
John Jakobson, COO of Merlin Entertainments Group, explains, “We are actively looking at the prospect of bringing a potential LEGOLAND Resort to the many LEGO Fans in Benelux and Northern France. The potential project has received a warm welcome from the leaders of the region. We will continue to work with all the key players in the region, including SOGEPA and we will make a definitive decision on the project, when the effects from the pandemic have passed.”
The last LEGOLAND park opened in Europe is LEGOLAND Deutschland Resort, which opened in Bavaria 19 years ago. A Belgian park would be the fourth Legoland park in Europe in total. (eap)
