Saranac Lake Ice Palace Melts

Apparently 50 degree weather and monsoon like rain is not the ideal environment for an ice palace.

The melting ice will erase 4 days of progress on the structure, and it will need to be taken down and rebuilt. The palace builders, consisting of volunteers and inmate crews from a local state correctional facility, will have to start over from scratch when the temps return to more seasonably appropriate digits… hopefully by today or tomorrow.

Dean Baker, chairman of the Ice Palace committee, said what’s been built so far will have to be taken down.

“I looked at it this morning, and it was pretty bad,” Baker said Monday afternoon. “It’s only gotten worse since then.”

- Adirondack Daily Enterprise

The plan is to rebuild a scaled down palace and have it up in time for the 2010 Winter Carnival, which runs from February 5th, through the 14th.

We came up for the festival last year, and here is what the palace looked like then.

Ice Palace 2009

Here is hoping the weather cooperates for them. Looking outside my window now I see the occasional flurry, which sure beats the pouring rain from yesterday.