Fifteen thousand gallons of water, 20 million pounds of ice, and one destroyed basement: Welcome to New Hampshire’s Ice Castles, an annual attraction complete with slides, tunnels, fountains, and thrones.
The massive structure is one of several located around North America, and it has brought out hundreds of thousands of visitors since it first opened in 2014, according to its website. But not everyone is looking forward to the attraction’s grand opening this month. In fact, one New Hampshire resident filed a lawsuit against Ice Castles and its operators, alleging that the event flooded and destroyed her basement last year after the ice melted.
Kelly Trinkle said she remembers painting in her bedroom last April when she realized she hadn’t checked her heating oil tank. She went down into her basement and immediately stepped into “a foot of water.” A video she took of the damage shows water seeping through her basement windows, pooling in her backyard, and eventually, filling her house with more than 16 inches of water, she said.
“We were trying all these things, stuffing towels in,” she remembers, “And it’s coming in like a waterfall.”
Ice Castles has denied that its structures contributed to Trinkle’s flooding, arguing the structures were “largely still in ice form” at the time the flooding took place and blaming it on the “topography of the land” and the “large watershed” near her house.
At least two North Woodstock, New Hampshire, board members have sided with Ice Castles, leading Trinkle to accuse the city of helping the company cover up the mess it made.
“Because they want the tourism dollars in this small town. Of course, they do,” Trinkle said. “And I’m not against tourism, but I’m against everybody covering up for Ice Castles flooding my home when I’m a longtime resident. I’ve lived here my entire life, and to cover up a multimillion company who flooded my home … I can’t sleep at night.”
The city seems to think Trinkle has found the wrong culprit, but what if she’s right? Woodstock would then have to choose between the safety of its residents or the money-making machine that is Ice Castles. For now, it appears the city has already made up its mind.
