Goshen, NY – It was standing room only Tuesday night as several hundred Orange County residents came to hear details about their newest neighbor, a Legoland theme park that will likely attract approximately 2 million visitors each year.
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The project, as reported by the Times Herald Record, would include a 700,000 square foot theme park, a 250 room family-themed hotel and, eventually, a 35,000 square foot aquarium. Admission to the park, which is expected to have 50 low impact rides geared to children ages two through twelve, has yet to be determined but tickets to California’s Legoland are $98 per day, although discounted pricing is often available.
The cost of park is estimated at about $500 million and, if the approvals process and building proceed on schedule, Legoland is expected to open in either 2019 or 2020.
There will be no water park or thrill rides at Legoland, which will include a cityscape made out of 20 million Lego bricks.
“Legoland is an immersive family-friendly park,” said John Ussher of Merlin Entertainment, which is developing and operating Legoland. “Our attractions are low impact.”
The 500 acre site is located off of Route 17 at exit 125. The actual park would cover an area of 153 acres, with much of the site to be kept as woodlands. Wetlands on the property would not be disturbed and approvals are already being sought to rezone farmland for the project.
While many in attendance at the Orange County Emergency Services Center, including members of local unions, expressed their approval, others had concerns about the project, which would be the third Legoland park built in the United States.
“Traffic, pollution, where will the wildlife go?” questioned Monroe resident Maria Endrizzi. “Put it somewhere else.”
Legoland officials are already in the midst of addressing traffic issues. Visitors would enter the park at a newly improved Exit 124 and at Exit 125. Other improvements would include a new traffic circle near the theme park and a widening of an existing road that would provide park access to visitors.
Goshen town board member George Lyons expressed doubts about the suggested improvements, calling them “woefully inadequate.”
Ussher said that Legoland will work with local governments to address any and all concerns.
“We don’t want neighbors upset with us,” he said. “It’s not good for business.”
LegoLand is the best thing that could happen to Goshen. It is a low impact economic development that should enable the town to avoid slipping into a permanent malaise. Due to the loss of the government center and the hospital, most businesses in town been have shuttered and there are abandoned homes all over town. Even if property taxes don’t go down by much, without this development, the town could be reduced to another upstate ghost town. It is behind the BOCES center, out-of-view and should not disturb the quaintness of the town.