By Lacie Pierson
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — In a blue check button-up shirt, dark sweater and jeans, 22-year-old communications major Drew Navy seemingly is another student traveling from one building to another with the goal of earning his bachelors degree at Marshall University.
On game days, Navy more noticeably is clad in a fur suit and green t-shirt as one of two energetic students who portray Marshall’s mascot, Marco.
The same gusto and school spirit that drive the Cabell Midland High School alumnus to be as active as possible on campus also led to his latest project. It is about three years in the making and has nothing to do with wearing an oversize foam head for hours on end.
“I’ve had really great experiences at Marshall,” Navy said. “But, I don’t really feel like I have left Marshall differently than when I got here. Honestly, and this could sound kind of lame, but I feel like this could be a way that I could literally…this could be my legacy.
“This could be my Lego-cy.”
Since his second year at Marshall, Navy has been using a Lego digital design application to construct a virtual model of the Joan C. Edwards Stadium that he estimates will be about 8 -feet long, 6-feet wide and about 2-feet at its tallest point.
The app affords users all of the Lego building blocks in existence, and, as of last week, Navy had exceeded 18,000 pieces for the Joan. He said he expects the completed project to exceed 20,000 pieces.
It’s not necessarily the number of Lego pieces that has challenged him at this point. It’s the number of dollars he’ll need to convert his vision into reality…