LOS ANGELES — Inglewood's futuristic SoFi Stadium is considered an architectural feat.
Now, the structural marvel has been rendered in miniature form. A Lego model of the stadium — where the Rams recently captured their first Super Bowl title in the L.A. area — will be unveiled to the public Thursday at the Legoland theme park in Carlsbad. But don't call it small.
Though it will join the park's Miniland U.S.A. attraction, park officials say the model is actually massive — earning the title as the largest Lego stadium in the world. It will be the first addition to Miniland U.S.A. in two years.
The structure is made from roughly half a million Lego bricks, according to park officials, and is 30 feet long, 15 feet wide and 4 feet tall.
It took 25 professional model builders more than 6,000 hours to construct, and the details are meticulous. Geometric trees line the outside and concession stands are nestled within, according to a spotlight on the replica on CBS.
The real stadium, shared by the NFL's Rams and Chargers, sits on a 298-acre site in Inglewood, formerly the home of Hollywood Park racetrack. It's considered the most modern and most expensive stadium in NFL history, with a first-phase price tag of $5 billion and a footprint roughly one-third larger than the University of Southern California campus, the Los Angeles Times reported last year.
Within the indoor-outdoor structure is the NFL Media complex and a futuristic stadium with a swooping translucent roof, sides open to the coastal breezes and a playing surface 100 feet below street level. The stadium officially opened its doors in September 2020, but really lifted the curtain a year later when the Rams opened the 2021 season against the Chicago Bears.
The stadium's roof is clad in ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, or ETFE, a tough, translucent plastic that shades fans.
The Lego version of the stadium's eye-catching roof required about 3,500 pounds of Legos. Park officials describe it in a statement as "the structure's most notable feature."
Legoland officials said the model arrived in more than 60 pieces and was assembled at the park, about half an hour north of San Diego and an hour south of Anaheim.
More than a dozen members of the park's model shop team completed the final installation of the model, which took place over the course of four days, park representatives said.
Inside the stadium, model makers re-created the L.A. Ram's starting roster for Super Bowl LVI, which they won in mid-February over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The scene will include "Minilander," or Lego versions, of this year's Super Bowl championship team, park officials said. There will also be an "audience" of 3,000 Lego people inside.
"Don't be surprised if a famous Minilander musician also makes an appearance," park officials said in a news release.
The structure will live alongside other iconic Southern California attractions rendered in Lego form, including models of the Griffith Park Observatory, Hollywood Bowl and Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
Aaron Donald, defensive tackle for the Rams, as well as members of the team's cheerleaders, will visit the park for opening day festivities, park officials said.
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