GRAPEVINE, Texas — A 9-year-old named William Hicks has rebuilt the Fort Worth Stockyards brick by brick by -- or, well, Lego brick by Lego brick, at least.
Hicks, a Grapevine native, recently won the title of 2024 North American Mini Master Model Builder with a 6,000-piece recreation of the historic Fort Worth district. The build took him more than 45 hours to complete, and includes details such as a cattle drive, a saloon, a working oil derrick and a mini-figure who can be seen running away from a horse that's rearing up and down.
Hicks' creation came as part of a national annual competition hosted by LEGO Discovery Centers for children between the ages of 5 and 12, who were tasked this year with building a Lego creation representing where they're from.
En route to being crowned this year's North American Mini Master Model Builder, first topped the competition at a regional event hosted at the LEGOLAND® Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth in the Grapevine Mills mall. From there, his build went up against other regional victors from across the U.S. and Canada -- and came out victorious.
Hicks, as you might expect, is pleased with his achievement.
"It feels great," he told the LEGO team in the wake of his win. "I'm so proud of myself, and I love my build."
Thaddeus Bennett, LEGOLAND Discovery Center Dallas/Fort Worth's own Master Model Builder, presented Hick with his new honor -- which came along with a confetti shower and ceremonial Lego brick dump. (See video of that moment at the top of this article.)
"[Lego is] so fun," Hicks said of his inspiration to compete in this year's tournament. "There's so many different things you can do with it, ways to make your builds stronger, [and] to learn. It's definitely my favorite toy."
Check out a gallery of Hicks' Stockyards build -- and the celebration of his honor -- below: