Ice castles are coming to Eden Prairie this winter.
Last week, Eden Prairie's City Council gave approval for Utah-based Ice Castles LLC to bring the attraction to the west metro suburb. Two years ago, the Mall of America in Bloomington hosted the company's creations.
Now, Eden Prairie's Miller Park, at 8208 Eden Prairie Road, will host the acre-sized ice attraction with construction starting and tickets going on sale in November. Crews will "grow" 5,000 icicles a day on "ice farms," and then "harvest" the icicles, lighting them up at night with thousands of multicolored LED lights.
The ice castles are expected to open to the public Dec. 26, if the weather permits. They will be open from 2-10 p.m. Monday-Friday and noon-10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through March. From Monday-Thursday, tickets will cost $7.95 for children ages 4-11 and $9.95 for general admission, and $9.95 for children Friday-Sunday and $11.95 for general admission Friday-Sunday.
For more information or to buy tickets, go to www.icecastles.com. The company will pay a monthly fee of about $2,800 to Eden Prairie to use the park along with a $2,600 fee for each 10,000 visitors who attend it over 40,000 visitors. Up to 70,000 people are expected to visit the attraction.
KELLY SMITH
