Collins | St. Paul Winter Carnival

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Despite weeks of worrying the St. Paul Winter Carnival would be without snow or ice, the winter winds and hard work by hundreds of volunteers merged at the right time.

“I can tell you right now if we didn’t have Collins on our side we wouldn’t have an ice maze,” said Kate Kelly, president of the St. Paul Winter Carnival.

Collins, a St. Paul based electrical contractor, has been the go-to electrical company serving the St. Paul Winter Carnival since 2001. The 59-year-old company volunteers its people and electrical equipment to light up the ice maze, snow sculptures and the bulk of Harriet Island during St. Paul’s 10-day celebration of winter.

The Amazing Ice Maze Grand Opening slated for Friday, Jan. 26 was delayed because of a postponement in ice harvesting from local lakes. Collins electricians split their days into a day and night shift, hoping to speed up production of the ice maze by the carnival’s opening weekend.

“We’re kind of multi-tasking here. We got a late start, but we’re excited — we’re having fun, it’s great fun,” Collins electrical onsite coordinator, Doug Spindler, said Thursday night, Jan. 25.

From the lake to the maze, Collins offered a helping hand. The temporary lighting donated by Collins for Lake Nokomis made it possible for workers to cut through the ice at night. After Xcel Energy trucks transported the 1,650 oversized ice cubes to Harriet Island, Collins workers used a crane to stack the 400-pound ice blocks in the maze. To light the structure, electrical wiring had to be meticulously placed around the ice maze. Workers completed the 5-foot-tall maze on Sunday, Jan. 28 for carnival goers young and old to explore.

Collins electrical designer Kevin Kuehn created the blueprint for how the 49 lights would be distributed to illuminate the ice maze. “Trying to light something that’s not your everyday thing, it’s a challenge,” Kuehn said of the snowflake-shaped maze.

In 2004, about 55 Collins employees worked on the Winter Carnival Ice Palace erected across from the Xcel Energy Center. Planning began in July that year. “It was a large undertaking,” Spindler said.

This year about 30 Collins employees spent time on Harriet Island installing seven ground rods at locations near generators to power up lights and receptacles for the maze, ticket booth, and the main food and entertainment tent. Collins also donated the power to keep other volunteers warm in construction trailers, at the snow slide and in ticket booths. Their electrical work can also be seen in the lights and heard through the sound system while gliding down the Giant Snow Slide. In all, Collins donates almost 500 hours of volunteer time.

“The St. Paul Winter Carnival is a part of our community and a part of our business community. This is where we make our living and it’s a great opportunity to give back,” Spindler said. “It’s a labor of love: Once you experience it, you come back year after year.”

Collins President Leonard Deeg is also a member of The Saint Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation, which operates and secures sponsorships for the carnival.

“Everything with the foundation is pro bono. Being a St. Paul company, we feel it is a good way to give back to the community,” Deeg said. “We’re proud to be the only electrical company working on the Winter Carnival.”