My Two Cents: Lego World in Norton/Mansfield

REMEMBER WHEN with Peter J. Wiggins: LEGO WORLD in NORTON

Most of you Nortonites who lived in Norton way back remember the opening of the Great Woods Performing Arts Center (now Comcast Center) back in 1986 in Mansfield. There was one time back in 1992 when a theme park almost came to Norton/Mansfield near the Comcast Center around the area of 495 and 140. It was called Lego World and 125 acres of the 500-acre site and would have been used for the park and another 40 acres would have been for the future expansion of the park.

The pros were it was going to bring jobs to Norton/Mansfield and boost the economy. There were cons on the other side of the coin, as it would bring traffic troubles to the area of the Great Woods section of Route 140 and Interstate 495 in Norton/Mansfield. Lego World Traffic would have to compete with the concert traffic at the Great Woods Performing Arts Center before, during and after performances. Now with the TPC-Boston in Norton down the street from the Comcast and the Deutsche Bank Championship Golf Tournament on Labor Day in Norton, it would be a triple threat on 495 and 140 in Mansfield and Norton. There would be a lot of crowd noise going on with the concerts at the Comcast Center. Finally, there would have been an access road to the Lego World from 495/140 with Exit 12 in Mansfield, so route 140 would have a connector from 495/140 Interchange in Mansfield to Route 140 near the Great Woods Marketplace in Norton.

In February 1993, Norton/Mansfield lost out a bid to have the First Lego World Theme Park to Carlsbad, California.