Mall of America to host ice castle this winter

A 40-foot tall ice castle will be built on one of Mall of America's parking lots this holiday season, news sources report.

The mall released details Thursday about the plan of Ice Castles LLC, a Utah-based company that has built similar structures in other cities. The company has tended to focus on smaller markets than the Twin Cities, Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reported.

Construction of the ice castle will begin next month, and it will take four to six weeks to construct. It will be open to the public from late December through February, Kare11 reported.

The castle will consist of icicles grown from 4 million gallons of water. It will also feature 50 large ice towers in a series of archways, tunnels, walls and caverns. There will be a center courtyard with the highest tower and several "throne rooms" with ice chairs, Kare11 reported.

The castle will still be visible at night due to thousands of LED multi-colored lights, Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reported.

"We cannot wait to watch this magical ice castle come to life," Maureen Bausch, executive vice president of business development at Mall of America said to Kare11. "We're always looking for ways to enhance the Mall of America experience for families, couples and friends alike and what better way than with a one-of-a-kind attraction like this ice castle?"

Tickets will cost $5 for children ages 3-12 and $10 for adults, Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal reported.