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All we need is the ice
by Toni Randolph, Minnesota Public Radio
December 23, 2003

The 2004 Ice Palace, as it is meant to look when completed. The St. Paul Winter Carnival begins Jan. 22. (Image by SLL Leo A Daly, architects, courtesy of St. Paul Winter Carnival )

Organizers of the Winter Carnival in St. Paul are praying for a cold spell so they can finally begin construction on the what's supposed to be the centerpiece of next month's festivities -- the ice palace.

St. Paul, Minn. — Construction on the ice palace was supposed to have begun last week -- but there wasn't enough ice. And there still isn't. For the past three weeks, St. Paul firefighter Dick Leitner has gone out to Lake Phalen to see how thick the ice is.

As of Sunday, it was about seven inches thick -- two inches thicker than last week -- but not thick enough to begin harvesting the 27,000 blocks of ice needed to build the palace. The lake needs to have 12 inches of ice before that can begin. Leitner says the infamous Minnesota weather needs to kick in.

	The way it looks today

"We need a cold snap. We have to pray for cold weather. I know that's not easy for people to do, not even me -- and I enjoy winter," says Leitner. "We need a cold snap of below zero for three to five days to get us down there. It should form a couple of inches a night of ice, additional ice, with below-zero temperatures."

At the site of the future ice palace -- across the street from the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul -- one worker was clearing away a bit of snow on Monday. There wasn't much else to do since the bulk of the prep work has already been done: the scaffolding is up and the cement has been poured. Tom Hartwell of Kraus-Anderson, the construction company overseeing the project, says crews are just waiting for the ice.

"The schedule that was supposed to start December 15 would have us laying about 1,000 blocks a day. We have an alternate schedule which would begin building the castle January 2, which has us laying about 1,500 blocks a day. So we're about 1.5 times our production capacity at that point," says Hartwell.

The Jan. 2 harvest date would leave less than three weeks for construction of the ice palace -- the carnival opens Jan. 22. But Hartwell says with an accelerated schedule and increased manpower, that's enough time.

	Empty lot

But what happens if Lake Phalen doesn't have enough ice? Organizers say they could start construction with ice from a lake in another part of the state now, and in January, begin the harvest from Lake Phalen. Going outside the Twin Cities, though, could add to the $8.4 million cost of building and operating the ice palace.

Organizers are watching the books closely, because they don't want a repeat of the last St. Paul ice palace experience in 1992. That palace had millions of visitors, but ended $600,000 in the red. That deficit took seven years to pay off.

Bob Viking, the president and CEO of the St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation, which produces the winter carnival and ice palace, says much of this year's costs are covered by in-kind donations. He hopes that any costs associated with getting ice from outside the Twin Cities will also be donated.

Also, for the first time, visitors will be charged a $5 admission to see the palace up close. And the public can "own" one of the bathtub size ice blocks for $20. Organizers are still trying to raise $250,000 to cover planned expenses.

"We're cautiously optimistic. We still -- there's no question about it -- have some funds to raise," says Viking. "We still have to have some cold weather, to have the ice that's necessary to build the palace. But we're cautiously optimistic that we're going to have a very successful palace.

The plan is for a 75 ft.-high ice castle -- the first palace since 1992 -- and the first walk-through castle since 1941. Organizers hope it will become a focal point not just for the Winter Carnival, but also for the NHL All-Star game, which will be held at the Xcel Arena on Feb. 8.

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