ENFIELD, Conn. — With Thursday’s opening of a new Boston headquarters, Lego is building a future, brick-by-brick, away from Enfield , the home of the childhood favorite for 50 years.
Lego was featured in town marketing materials, and Lego hosted a big play area in the Connecticut Building at The Big E each year.
Enfield also has a playground and a child care center festooned with Lego’s colorful logo.
“It has had an impact, because people are not necessarily coming here to work as much,” said Aaron Marcavitch, town director of economic and community development.
In 1996, Lori Lagasse, of Springfield, Massachusetts, at the computer, works with Ed Martin, of South Hadley, Massachusetts, at Lego in Enfield. Lego announced it will move its headquarters from Enfield to Boston by 2026. (The Republican, File)
The town of 40,000 between Springfield, Massachusetts, and Hartford — in what boosters used to call the Knowledge Corridor — now becomes more of a bedroom community, a place where people sleep but from which they have to commute to work.
Enfield, meanwhile, is figuring out its next big thing.
“What are people doing here?” Marcavitch said. “That’s small manufacturing.”
And that future also includes life sciences company Eppendorf, which opened a distribution center in Enfield in 2023 with the capacity to handle 11,500 pallets of goods.
Additionally, the long-awaited redevelopment of Enfield Square Mall recently landed $10 million in state support that its developers required.
Lego's North American headquarters at Enfield Business Park, off I-91 in Enfield, Connecticut. (The Republican, File)The Republican
Last month, Amazon bought a 181-acre warehouse site at 35 Bacon Road.
Looking back at Lego
Lego closed its manufacturing and warehousing operations in Enfield in 2006, laying off 300 workers.
It had 740 people working full-time from its Enfield office when it announced its plans in January 2023 to move to Boston. About half those Lego employees live in Western Massachusetts, with the other half in Connecticut.
Outside the LEGO Group's American headquarters in Enfield, Connecticut. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Company spokesperson Colleen Arons reiterated this week that Enfield employees will have the opportunity to follow those jobs to Boston. The jobs will migrate slowly to Boston over the course of this year.
These jobs also are covered under companywide hybrid work-from-home policy, mandating three days in the office and two from home as it fits best for individuals and teams.
And Lego said it wants to keep its local commercial relationships, which in the past have included photographers and graphic designers in Springfield.
Pallet loader Dave Moore of Manchester, Connecticut, takes product from a conveyor system at Lego's distribution plant in 1996. (Michael Gordon / The Republican, File)The Republican
Lego, based in Denmark, said it was shifting headquarters operations to Boston in search of a high-tech workforce that was difficult to attract in suburban Enfield. It’s the same reason GE, before its breakup, cited in moving its operations to Boston from Fairfield, Connecticut.
"Star Wars" characters Qui-Gon Jinn, left, and Darth Maul fight to the death in this Lego's scene at the Springfield Brick Convention at MassMutual Center in 2023. (Steven E. Nanton / Special to The Republican, File)
Just last week, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that Lego will invest $366 million and build a new 2,000,000-square-foot warehouse in Prince George County’s Crosspointe Business Centre site, creating 305 new jobs.
Virginia approved a $2.53 million grant for the project.
Lego also is completing a $1 billion factory nearby in Chesterfield, Virginia, but that plant’s opening has been delayed until 2027. It’s expected to eventually employ 1,700 workers .
In Enfield, the Lego space — 587,700 square feet on Print Shop Road — is listed as available for lease by its owners, Winstanley Development.
Winstanley, the same Boston-based real estate company that sold the property to Amazon, said it cannot comment on the property, because of confidentiality agreements.
Outside the LEGO Group's American headquarters in Enfield, Connecticut. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Later this month, local Lego artists will be featured at the Springfield Brick Convention on May 24 and 25 at the MassMutual Center.
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