Habitat for Humanity constructs ‘ice home’ at Fitger’s courtyard

• Habitat for Humanity 'ice house'

Jennifer Hedberg of Wintercraft and Daryl Yankee, director of Western Lake Superior Habitat for Humanity, stand by the 6-foot tall ice house that was built in the Fitger’s courtyard in early January. Submitted photo

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The warm weather of early January did not discourage volunteers who were working to build a 6-foot tall ice home in the Fitger’s courtyard this month in support of local Habitat for Humanity projects. And when the high temperatures melted what was already built, the volunteers simply started anew.

The idea to build an ice home came about in October when Habitat for Humanity got in touch with former CEO of Winter Fun 101 Linda Nervick, who is now on the Habitat for Humanity board of directors. Nervick suggested hosting a winter event that would involve the community, an idea that was welcomed by those at Habitat for Humanity.

“We wanted to give volunteers the chance to do something fun,” said Daryl Yankee, director of the Western Lake Superior Habitat for Humanity. “We have fun when we work on real-life projects, but they are also quite serious. We build homes for folks that are in tough situations, so it’s nice to take a break and do something lighthearted.”

Once it was decided that the two groups would partner together to build an ice house, Nervick started doing some research. She found out that Lake Pequaywan, located about 30 miles north of Duluth, has clear ice that could be used for windows in the ice house.

“It’s just beautiful ice,” she said. “It’s so clear that you can see through it.”

The ice from Lake Pequaywan was also used to construct the back wall of the ice house so that visitors could see through it, and some ice was also gathered from Lake Superior. At that point, Yankee said volunteers realized they needed more ice if they were going to build a decent-size house.

Carlson Refrigeration of Superior, Wis., came to the rescue, donating 350 blocks of ice for the construction of the ice house. The volunteers also received assistance on the project from Wintercraft, a business located out of Minneapolis that supplied lanterns to be used in the ice house.

Once completed, the house measured 8 feet by 10 feet, with 6-foot high walls. Nervick said Wintercraft helped volunteers put natural landscaping and a winter garden outside the ice house.

“It’s been a really fun project,” Nervick said. “We were successful in our adventure, as none of us had ever done this before. It was a great team-building effort.”

The ice house was opened to the public Jan. 4 and will remain available to visitors until Saturday, Jan. 28. Home tours will take place Tuesdays through Fridays from 4 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 8 p.m. throughout the month of January. On Fridays and Saturdays, there will bonfires and s’mores and hot chocolate will be offered.

To bring the Habitat for Humanity Ice House event to a close, an ice lantern contest will be held Friday, Jan. 27. Registration for the event takes place from 3 to 5 p.m., and judging will begin at 6 p.m. The public is invited to create lanterns for display in the ice house.

A raffle drawing will also take place Saturday, Jan. 28, with a variety of prizes from local businesses. Tickets are three for $10 or one for $3.34. Winners will be able to choose their prizes but do not need to be present to win.

Funds raised from the raffle will go toward this year’s Habitat for Humanity projects, which includes the renovation of two homes in Duluth and Superior and a number of repair projects throughout the area.

During tours given throughout the month, the community will get the chance to learn more about Habitat for Humanity’s mission and work throughout the area.

“We really just wanted to do something fun in the dead of winter and let folks know that Habitat for Humanity is up here doing things all year,” Yankee said.

For more information about the local Habitat for Humanity, visit www.twinportshabitat.org.

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