Ice House In Market Square Raising Funds For Good Cause

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A truck filled with ice blocks and building supplies enters Market Square.

Mike Mastro of Mastro Ice Company and employees are there to build a house of ice. The idea is to raise contributions for Dollar Energy Fund's "Cool Down for Warmth" program.

Fund chairman Chad Quinn explains how it works.

"We're having people come down and spend some time in a house made of ice, to help raise funds for the Dollar Energy Fund," he says.

Last year, ice house "residents" raised $70,000, matched by utility partners, to assist those having trouble with heating bills.

"We have everything from chainsaws to chisels to grinders to heating plates, squares, tape measures, extension cords. Everything you need to build an ice house," Mastro says.

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Builders waited till early evening, when the temperature started to drop.

"There's 20 blocks of ice on that pallet and they weigh about 330 pounds each," Mastro added.

He says "building materials" are frozen here in Pittsburgh.

"We use city of Pittsburgh water, triple filtered. And it's perfectly clear. We remove all the impurities. You'll be able to read a newspaper through it," Mastro said.

Last year they had just one room, 10-by-10. This year, they're adding two more rooms the same size, enough space for three times as many people.

Of course, no house can be built overnight.

"We're going to continue to work until we can't work anymore," Mastro says.

The fundraising event takes place Thursday and Friday, in Market Square.