City of Brossard makes resident take down ice castle

Derek Parker’s backyard looks a little different since the last time we saw it.

“The city’s called and they sort of shut down my ice castle,” he said.

Global News first visited Parker last month, when he took us on a tour of his handmade man cave. It took the Brossard resident more than 100 hours and hundreds of blocks of ice to put this together. It featured a bar, stools, a fireplace, and a TV screen to watch Habs games.

READ MORE: Brossard man builds man cave out of ice

News of his ice castle went viral, even making it to Montreal Canadiens owner, Geoff Molson, who sent Parker a message, along with a fan package.

“That’s what this thing was all about — it was sort of a Habs shrine,” said Parker. “It was just a way of doing something different, rather than spending it inside for three, four months.”

But the fun has now come to an end. On Friday, Parker says he got a call from a city inspector who told him the roof of his man cave looked dangerous. After a visit from the city on Monday, he was also informed that the structure was built too close to his fence.

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READ MORE: Montreal police pranked by a car snow sculpture

“Apparently there’s many things I didn’t follow,” said Parker. “I didn’t ask permission to build anything this size, which I didn’t know you needed permission to build an igloo in your backyard.”

For the last two months, Parker’s backyard has attracted friends, family and neighbours, who say they’re disappointed that the city has shut down the ice castle.

“It’s kind of sad because it brought the community together,” said neighbour and friend Melina Bourkas. “We get together in the summertime and this was now a winter get-together.”

In a statement to Global News, the City of Brossard said, before starting the backyard project, Parker did not contact the city for information and to obtain the necessary permit.

READ MORE: Warm, wet weather spells early end to backyard hockey rink in St-Lazare

“Following an internal review, an inspector contacted Mr. Parker to inform him of the current city bylaw and requested that he take down the structure forming the roof, which was deemed unsafe for people inside.”

A spokesperson added that all residents should contact the city before building or renovating.

“I’m not looking for the hassle,” said Parker. “Who wants to have hassle? If they’re going to hassle someone over doing something for fun, no one’s going to do anything.”