Eagle River Ice Castle canceled this year

After an optimistic start to the ice making season, the construction of the Eagle River Ice Castle was ultimately canceled. 

There were special plans for the Ice Castle this year too.

Eagle River fire chief Michael Anderson told the city council at a Dec. 10 meeting the plans to build the Ice Castle would include a representation of the Twin Towers because 2026 is the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

At that time, he informed the council there was 6 inches of ice forming on the lake tapped to build the Ice Castle. 

The Eagle River Fire Department has been keeping the community updated on the Ice Castle on Facebook since.

The fire department said in a Dec. 22 Facebook post there was 10 inches of ice and 14 inches would be needed. 

“Cross your fingers for cold!” the post said. 

Then a Dec. 30 Facebook post by the fire department signaled slight concern. 

“We currently have roughly 10 inches of ice on the lake, a couple inches of slush, and about 8 inches of snow,” the post said. “At this point, we cannot safely remove the snow off of the lake. Snowblowers will not push the slush. Because there are springs in that area of the lake it is not safe to take a truck or skid steer out to plow at this point.”

Jan. 2 was the next Facebook post, the fire department saying there was 11 inches of ice at that point. 

On Jan. 5, the decision not to proceed with the construction of the Ice Castle was made. 

“After checking the ice conditions and measuring the thickness of the ice this morning, we will not be able to build an ice castle this year,” the Facebook post said. “The layer of slush did freeze, but that ice is very rough, uneven and brittle. We would have to shave at least the top 1 (inch) to 2 (inches) off each block to ensure that we are using strong, solid ice. That means we would need at least 14 (inches) of ice and we still only have 10.5 (inches) to 11 (inches) of ice. Unfortunately, with the warmer temperatures in the forecast that ice will not be made. We would like to thank everyone that offered their time, equipment and materials in preparation and we look forward to trying again next year.”

Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].