Masonry Magazine March 2004 Page. 66
MCAA News
Regional News continued from page 51
tual" the federal government has been in protecting workers' lives.
St. Paul, Minnesota
Reported by the Star Tribune, "Ice Palace aglow," January 23, 2004:
The Ice Palace of the 2004 St. Paul Winter Carnival opened Thursday night to the cheers of the men and women who built it, their roars of approval muffled by scarves and masks fending off the frigid weather. After about 3,000 union workers paraded to the palace gates across from the Xcel Energy Center for a special thank-you ceremony, the carnival's first ice castle since 1992 opened to the public.
Thousands of people were on hand Thursday night, walking through the palace's archways and posing for pictures on benches and ledges made of ice. A light show cast blue, yellow and purple hues on the palace walls, while lights glowed from beneath 10-foot ice sculptures...
Ken Gutzner of Coon Rapids, one of the palace builders, choked up. "It's like a dream come true," he said.
No wonder, considering that Gutzner spent much of the past few weeks running his specialized lumber saw at Lake Phalen, expertly shaving the 27,000 ice blocks pulled from the lake to uniform size.
"I did what I could," he said.
Each ice block can withstand 800 pounds of pressure per square inch, Gutzner said. That's strong enough to build a 60-foot tower, but not if the ice blocks were crooked...
With luck and some fudge work, the palace opened on schedule, despite warmer weather last month that delayed the start of construction. While the bulk of the workers were union volunteers, some paid workers were brought in this week to ensure meeting the deadline...
The palace closes to the public on Feb. 7th at midnight after a final concert.
Texas
Reported by The Star-Telegram, "Sizes, materials, types of signs on P&Z agenda," January 19. 2004:
An ordinance that would prohibit poles and require monument signs is scheduled for discussion Tuesday by the [Arlington] Planning and Zoning Commission...
City officials have long considered most pole-based signs unattractive and have believed that masonry monument signs would look better in commercial areas.
The city staff's draft ordinance would reduce the maximum size of signs from 64 square feet to 50 square feet and require the monuments to be constructed of masonry material that matches that of the building, If the building isn't masonry, the sign still would have to be.
Note: Please send any local, state or regional news to Jennie Farnsworth at jen@lionhrtpub.com or c/o Lionheart Publishing, Inc., 506 Roswell St. Suite 220, Marietta, Ga. 30060.
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