Work on the Legoland Korea theme park will resume as the Gangwon Province approves plans – 7 years after it was first announced.
The project was started September 2011. In 2014, Merlin officially announced that it would open Legoland Korea in 2017, however construction came to a halt after prehistoric ruins were discovered at the site.
After the plan was passed, Business Korea reports that Governor Choi Moon-soon said: “I appreciate your approval of our LEGOLAND plan and the budget to host the Winter Asian Games in 2021. We will do our best to help these projects achieve their goals and contribute to the development of the province.”
The park will be built on a site of 1.06 million square meters on Hajungdo Island in Chuncheon at an estimated cost of 300 billion won (US$ 265 million). Under a deal agreed last May, Merlin will invest 220 billion won into the project, with the remaining 80 billion won coming from LL Development Co., a joint venture between Merlin Entertainments and the Gangwon provincial government.
Legoland Korea will be twice the size of Legoland Japan, which was reported not to have met intial revenue targets. Legoland Japan is now planning its own expansion to add a new hotel and aquarium. The Korean site will include around 40 Lego attractions as well as a hotel, water park and retail complex. It is expected to be completed by 2020, a year and a half later than the original schedule.
Merlin operates eight Legoland theme parks around the world with locations in Denmark, the UK, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the UAE and the US. It also has another park in development in Shanghai, China.
https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=27478
