Net Mole: The Leadville Ice Palace 1896.

The Ice Palace, Leadville, Colorado by William Henry Jackson 1896.

The Leadville ice palace was designed by Charles E. Jay, an architect who had designed an earlier ice palace in St. Paul, Minnesota. Constructed in the winter of 1895-6, it was at the time, the largest ice structure ever built.
Using an estimated 5000 tons of ice in its construction the site spread over 5 acres, with the main towers of the castle reaching 90 feet. The palace was supported by a frame work of girders and timber with the ice acting as a skin around the framework.
The interior of the building contained a ballroom, curling rink, theatre and restaurant, while outside were ice rinks, toboggan runs and carousels. For the three months that the palace was open to the public more than 250,000 visitors came to see the palace, until an early thaw in mid-March made the building unsafe.

The Ice Palace, Leadville, Colorado by William Henry Jackson 1896.