The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is receiving questions about the use of lakes within the park system for carousels and ice holes for swimming or ice baths. The safety of all park visitors is the MPRB’s top priority. Cutting holes more than 10 inches in diameter in lakes within the Minneapolis park system is a violation of Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) ordinance PB2-25. Carousels and ice holes for bathing or swimming require requires holes beyond 10 inches and would require a permit because they alter a natural feature, so the person or entity altering the natural feature creates a liability, and therefore must assume the liability if someone were to become injured because of the alteration.
Lakes within Minneapolis parks are accessed and used by children, snowshoers, cross-country skiers and pets, sometimes after dark, before parks close at midnight. Currently, ice carousels and ice baths on lakes within the parks are not secured and there is no uniformity in how they are marked.
This winter, park staff have been trying to educate people on MPRB ordinances and permit processes. The MPRB currently does not issue permits for holes greater than 10 inches to be cut into a lake, other than the permit the MPRB issues to Special Olympics to conduct a Polar Plunge on Bde Maka Ska. In order for the MPRB to permit this activity, first an application must be submitted as well as a certificate of liability insurance naming the MPRB as an additional insured for the activity. In addition, the area needs to be staffed while people are in the water and the area needs to be fenced in a way that keeps people out at times when the area is not being used, or the area needs 24-hour security.