LEGO enthusiasts build 10,000-piece replica of Halifax Citadel

Maritime LEGO enthusiasts were busy in Halifax Saturday afternoon, putting the finishing touches on their scale replica of the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site.

The replica features more than 10,000 LEGO bricks and took members of the Maritime LEGO Users group (MariLUG) months to build.

The last few pieces were added at the Halifax Central Library as part of their MiniCON event, which celebrates all things geeky.

Several young library visitors assisted MariLUG members during the event.

“We’ve got some really easy to follow instructions and we’ve got some people helping,” said Shawn McLeod, MariLUG’s event manager.

“We’ve had a number of young kids come out and actually get to put the bricks together to make the plastic replica – they can feel a part of ownership of the replica.”

The instructions were made possible thanks to a software called Studio, which LEGO provides for free to casual builders and professionals who want to make their own designs.

“You can scroll through every single brick that LEGO has ever made, in every colour that they’ve ever made, and just snap them together and you can print off a list of all the parts, and that’s basically what we did,” said McLeod.

“One of our members did the design back in December and then we ordered the parts -- got them in from BrickLink stores from Germany or from the north end of Halifax or from some down in the southern United States. They all arrived in big bags and then we just followed the instructions to put them back together."

The replica will be showcased at the real Halifax Citadel's visitor centre from June 1 to the end of October.

It will also travel to the Toronto area for a week in July for the Bricks in the Six convention – Canada’s largest LEGO fan event.

“We’re going to have it there and it’s going to be in a big display table next to the Toronto group that’s there. We’re really excited to show it off with the world and get it out there in the public, because LEGO shouldn’t be sitting in someone’s basement all the time, it should be on display.”

The Halifax Citadel replica isn’t MariLUG's first Maritime creation.

One of the group’s founding members previously built a replica of the Halifax Town Clock and their president recently made a custom New Brunswick Southern Railway locomotive.