The specter of the financially ruinous 1992 ice palace still haunts St. Paul’s Winter Carnival.
Noting that the palace built on Harriet Island for the 1992 Super Bowl nearly sunk the century-old festival, this year’s organizers called off a planned supersized ice palace to coincide with Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis.
Ice Cold Events, the group set up to fund and build the ice palace, said Wednesday it was unable to raise the $5 million needed to guarantee that the costs of building and operating the structure would be covered. The ice palace was to be built with private donations on the state Capitol grounds. Organizers initially hoped to raise as much as $15 million.
“What we wanted to do, at the end of the day, is be financially sound. We really needed a title sponsor,” said Rosanne Bump, executive director of Ice Cold Events. “That was something that was really important to us.”
It doesn’t appear anyone else is picking up the baton in St. Paul or Minneapolis, where the Super Bowl will be played Feb. 4 at U.S. Bank Stadium. Michael Howard, spokesman for the Super Bowl Host Committee, said “there are no specific plans for an ice palace.”
Former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer said he was disappointed by the news and recalled the volunteer efforts of hundreds of St. Paul builders in the construction of the 1986 ice palace at Lake Phalen.
“I’m very sad, because obviously it’s a great piece of history,” Latimer said. “When I read about the financial need (for the 2018 effort), I found that off-putting.”
The St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation, which oversees the Winter Carnival and created Ice Cold Events, first announced its ice palace plans in August.
The ice palace team invested “a considerable amount of time” investigating everything from architecture and engineering services to where to harvest ice, said Jennifer Tamburo, chair of the St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation’s board. They also were working with potential funding sponsors.
“We are disappointed to announce that we were not able to secure financial support to cover costs to allow the project to move forward,” Tamburo said in a message to foundation members. “We sincerely appreciate your understanding of the decisions made and above all your commitment and support of the St. Paul Winter Carnival.”
The 1992 palace coincided with the last Super Bowl held in Minneapolis and drew 2 million visitors to Harriet Island. Its record height — 166 feet — made it memorable, but so did its price tag.
Construction, lighting, security and other costs associated with the ice palace totaled $1.9 million — twice as much as estimated. These bills drove the St. Paul Winter Carnival Association out of business.
Although it was able to reduce its roughly $800,000 debt by more than half, the Winter Carnival Association failed to raise enough cash to pay its creditors and folded in 1993. The St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation was created to replace it that same year.
Vadnais Heights announced its own plans earlier this year to host and build an ice palace during the Super Bowl. But those plans fizzled when the owner of the property where the city wanted to build the complex decided against leasing the land.
The 2018 Winter Carnival will be extended a week to coincide with other Super Bowl activities from Jan. 25 to Feb. 10. Organizers are planning to ramp up the ice sculpture garden in Rice Park, and the Vulcans Snow Park at the state Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights will be open all 17 days of the carnival.
Dave Orrick contributed to this report.
Copyright 2017 Pioneer Press.
