The Newburgh Armory Unity Center, LEGOLAND New York Resort and its children’s charity Merlin’s Magic Wand Foundation and families of the City of Newburgh celebrated the grand opening of a new Merlin’s Magic Space with LEGO Themed Classroom. The new space debuted on Saturday, February 24 as the newest academic session for the Armory began that same day.

The new LEGO classroom space was designed in collaboration with LEGOLAND New York Resort and its charitable foundation to foster knowledge and creativity through a 12-week-long LEGO inspired curriculum led by local volunteers. The interactive new LEGO themed classroom will host a total of 80 students at the Armory each Saturday through May.

The new LEGO space is the 13th Magic Space project developed by Merlin’s Magic Wand Foundation, the charitable arm of Merlin Entertainment in North America, to bring magical experiences to the spaces where beneficiary children often spend a lot of time. This includes children’s hospitals, special needs schools, homeless shelters and community centers.

Located just half an hour outside of Newburgh, LEGOLAND New York Resort helped to secure funding for the development of the new community space through donations made at the park, including ticket sales and fundraising through LEGOLAND New York Resort employees and third-party partners. This has resulted in over $400,000 raised for Merlin’s Magic Wand since the resort opened in 2021.

William Kaplan, the founder of the Newburgh Armory Unity Center, was joined by families, board members and staff for the unveiling of the new space and was grateful for the support and work put into this project. “I’m so excited to see this project come to fruition. Our Lego classroom will keep students’ brains active. I look forward to continue our partnership with Legoland,” said Kaplan.

Other guests of the event included City Councilman Bob Sklarz, Senator Rob Rolison, Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus, Deputy County Executive Harry Porr, Orange County Clerk Kelly Eskew and Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta.

“The new LEGO themed educational space will promote creativity and help build a brighter future for the children in our local community,” said Stephanie Johnson, Divisional Director at LEGOLAND New York. “It’s an honor to support the vital work done at Newburgh Armory Unity Center and bring a space dedicated to challenging students to learn the basic principles of engineering, math and architecture while embarking on a fun-filled journey through the transformative power of LEGO bricks.”

“Our purpose at Merlin is to bring joy, create connections, and build memories, and so if you think about those three things, they’re all packed into an event like today. The amount of connections that take place here are incredible. And then, like the joy part is like you watch these kids as they interact with not only just the Legos but each other. I mean, that’s why we do what we do,” said Spencer Holt, Chief Experience & People Officer (CXPO) of Merlin Entertainments.