Maple Grove Set to Host Ice Castles For the First Time This Winter
An empty plot of land at the corner of Main Street and Weaver Lake Road in Maple Grove will soon become a wintry wonderland.
Ice Castles is moving its Minnesota winter attraction from New Brighton to Maple Grove, and construction has already begun.
Ice Castles’ Minnesota location will be in Maple Grove this winter.
“They lay out the grid, they do a lot of site planning to imagine what it’s going to look like. They really work with the shape of the land to imagine everything the space could be,” said Economic Development Manager Joe Amerman with the City of Maple Grove. “Beginning when the temperatures drop into the teens, consistently, they can start building it up, and it actually goes up pretty quick.”
Amerman said the hope is to have the attraction open by Christmas, and have it stay open at least through the end of February–weather permitting. The plan calls for a castle with courtyards and tunnels–even a slide–to be built using sprinklers and to let Mother Nature provide the cement in the form of solid ice.
“It’s very ornate,” said Amerman.
Tickets go on sale online on November 29. Prices are $23 per adult and $16 per child ages 4-11, depending on peak times for the attraction, Amerman said.
“There are times when they’re looking at greater demand, times like holidays, weekends, evenings, times earlier in the season, those are going to be a little more expensive than as you go into the later weeks,” he said.
City officials think what drew the attraction to this side of the Twin Cities metro is the overall offerings in the winter time.
“We’re just a couple of blocks from our skating loop. We’re just a couple of miles from our shopping area,” said Amerman. “ (Ice Castles) really wanted to tie into that and try to tap into that energy Maple Grove is trying to create, so I think it’s a genuine thumbs-up from what we’ve tried to do, and it’s a sign that, in future years, we’re an excellent partner going forward.”
