Friday, February 8, 2:30 p.m., as Winter Carnival gears up.

About the construction of Houghton's
Snow House 2002

Where did the idea come from? 

Patrick Coleman, president of U.P. Engineers & Architects, Inc., is a member of the Winter Cities Association, a world-wide organization dedicated to making northern cities more livable. He toured several snow castles in Scandinavia during a Winter Cities conference in 2000. When he returned to the Copper Country, he asked City of Houghton and City of Hancock officials,  “Why not here?”

Who constructed Houghton's Snow House?

 The building was constructed in mid-January by City of Houghton employees with the help of a variety of other groups and individuals. Key to the project was Finnish Snow Engineer Seppo Makinen, an expert in snow construction. He was hired by a local group to come to the U.S. and teach Copper Country residents how to construct snow buildings.

How was this building constructed?

 Finnish Snow Engineer Seppo Makinen provided local residents engineering specifications for “forms” made out of lumber. The forms, very similar to roof trusses, were covered with sheet metal. The bottom of the forms sat on top of wood blocks about eights off the ground. With the forms in place, snow was blown on top of the them. Once the snow hardened, in about 24 hours, the blocks of wood were knocked out from underneath the forms. This allowed them to drop down. They were then slid out, leaving just the hardened snow.

BUILDING WITH SNOW:
NORTHERN MICHIGAN TOWNS TO CONSTRUCT SNOW HOUSES

By Patrick J. Coleman, AICP

The heavy lake effect snowfalls experienced by some communities in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have not always been welcomed.  Annual snowfall amounts exceeding 250 inches (600 cm) create additional costs for snow management, difficult driving and walking conditions, and extend winter’s effects well into the spring season.

In the last fifteen years however, the region has developed a strong winter tourism industry based upon snowmobiling and skiing that takes advantage of the excellent and reliable snow conditions and the area’s natural beauty.  A new response to winter has evolved, based upon the winter cities model. 

The cities of Houghton and Hancock are located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, a finger of land extending into the Lake Superior.  In this area, recorded snowfalls are among the highest in North America.  The cities face each other on steep hillsides across the waters of Portage Lake and share a rich history from a century of copper mining.  The mines have been closed for more than 30 years, but the area economy has stabilized due to the presence of Michigan Technological University (MTU).  In recent years, the cities have benefited from the development of small, high tech firms who locate there for the high quality of life, despite the remote location of the region.

Snow has long been used to construct large, elaborate statues for MTU’s Winter Carnival.  This annual event has run for over 75 years, and the student organizations have developed snow statue building to a fine art. This winter, however, Houghton and Hancock residents and visitors will experience something new.  Several snow buildings will be constructed as a cooperative pilot project in Houghton and Hancock.  This will be the first project of its type in the United States.

In the last decade, constructing buildings with snow has been done successfully at several sites in the northern areas of Finland and Sweden.  The Ice Hotel at Jukkasjarvi, Sweden and the LummiLinna  Snowcastle in Kemi, Finland have attracted international attention and visitation.  Houghton and Hancock learned of these developments through their involvement with the Livable Winter Cities Association.  It was determined that something similar could be done, given the area’s snowfall, experience with snowbuilding, and tourism markets.  In addition, many area residents are of Finnish heritage and the cities are developing business and sister city relationships with Finland. 

The pilot snowbuilding project will consist of two separate structures, one in each city.  The project is being developed as a community volunteer effort.  Funding for the pilot has been raised from contributions from the two cities, the Keweenaw Tourism Council, and an arts grant from the State of Michigan.  Technical and project management support is being provided by

U.P. Engineers & Architects, a regional design firm.  The cities will contribute equipment and workers to construct the building shell.  Labor and finishing details will be provided by students from MTU and Finlandia University, a small college in Hancock.  Local artists will contribute works of art for the interior of the structures.

The pilot project has contracted for professional assistance from one of the world’s leading experts on snow construction.  Seppo Makinen, of Snowhow Co. of Oulu, Finland has been providing technical expertise to the design of the structures and will travel to Houghton/Hancock to oversee construction in early January 2002.  Mr. Makinen has been involved with snowbuildings at Kemi, Lahti and Helsinki, Finland.

Each building will consist of arched snow vaults of over 1000 square feet of enclosed space.  The interiors and exteriors will be embellished with art work and ice.  In Hancock, the “Lumitalo”, (Finnish for snowhouse), will include an ice café, where visitors can have a coffee and a snack, and a frozen art gallery.  In Houghton, the structure will be used as a visitors center for Winter Carnival.

As a pilot project, the goal is to test the feasibility of creating  large, more elaborate structure as a tourism attraction.  Impacts of the climate on the structure, visitation and community support will be measured and evaluated.  Local officials will also be considering whether snow buildings can be economically constructed for other special purposes.  One idea is to use a snow structure to house a curling rink.  Other uses, such as a bar, lodging, and ski resort shelter will also be considered.

The cities of Houghton and Hancock are learning that their tremendous annual snowfall is something very unique.   The snowbuilding project uses snow as a resource for economic development and is an exciting way to for the communities to celebrate this uniqueness.