Lego Workshop Coming to West Caldwell Library

Architect Stephen W. Schwartz, founder of Building Blocks Workshops, will bring his popular Lego program on windmills and wind energy to the West Caldwell Public Library on Sunday, Sept. 30.

Lego enthusiasts of all ages are invited to participate in the two-hour program, which is limited to 50 families (or groups of four).

“People tell me it’s the greatest family program they’ve ever seen,” said Schwartz, of Livingston-based SWS Architects. “Your family will go nuts for this.” 

The architect will bring his own supply of 60,000 Legos, but the scale and design of the windmills will be up to the teams. He said windmills average two- to three-feet in height.

Once the windmills are completed, they will be placed on a 15’ by 30’ map of New Jersey — specifically off the shore of Atlantic City, where a wind farm is currently under development.

“I feel like we have a double-headed opportunity,” Schwartz said. “One is that families can actually build something together because it’s a family program and number two, that I can teach something about wind power.”

Schwartz held his first Building Blocks Workshop nine years ago in Montclair, where models of 50 of the town’s buildings were created using nothing but Legos.

“We do [that] program primarily to make people aware of the architectural heritage of their own community,” Schwartz said. “Many times people can pass a building 10 times a week, but they just don’t look at it.”

Today, Schwartz said, the Montclair workshop sells out in a matter of hours, and programs are booked around the tri-state area and beyond in Ohio, Texas and Tennessee.

"Lego is without a doubt the greatest toy ever invented," Schwartz said.

The Lego workshop at the West Caldwell Public Library is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 30, at 1:45 p.m. The cost is $35 for a group of four with proceeds going to the library.

Registration and payment by cash or check must be made in advance at the library, 30 Clinton Road, in West Caldwell.

For more information, call (973) 226-5441.