Legoland Philadelphia unveils One Liberty Place tower made of 17,000 Legos

A 9-foot-tall Lego model of One Liberty Place and Two Liberty Place was unveiled at City Hall this morning ahead of Legoland Discovery Center’s April 6 opening at Plymouth Meeting Mall.

The two towers mark the first completed builds of the center’s MiniLand attraction, which will feature various Philadelphia icons in Lego-form—think City Hall, Boathouse Row and the Comcast Center. The entire model will be made of more than 1 million Lego pieces.

It was no easy feat to build the two towers. According to Legoland, it took nine Lego builders and 930 hours to make the model. More than 17,000 Lego pieces were used.

Mayor Jim Kenney was on hand for the unveiling, saying, “This is just really cool,” as he snuck a peek at the model. Kenney said he was particularly excited to see the Lego version of City Hall: “It took 30 years to build this thing. Hope it takes less time to build the Legoland version of it.”

He also made a point to say that although the center is not located in Philadelphia proper, “I want to make sure we understand that Philadelphia is a region. We promote the region—not just Philadelphia within our city limits. It’s good for our own folks to go out to the suburbs and suburbanites to come to Philadelphia.”

One Liberty Place was once the tallest skyscraper in the city when it debuted in 1987. Designed by Hulmet Jahn, the 945-foot-tall tower was the first building to surpass the city’s Gentleman’s Agreement that no structure should be taller than the William Penn statue atop City Hall.

When Legoland Discovery Center Philadelphia opens in April, it will be the ninth location in the U.S. Unlike other Legoland locations, general manager Mike Taylor said the Plymouth Meeting location will feature some new attractions, including a Lego train ride. Timed tickets went on sale today.

• Legoland is coming to Plymouth Meeting Mall in 2017 [Curbed Philly]