Some 180 miles outside of Anchorage, Alaska, there's a towering blob of a structure speckled with dormer windows and practically falling down. A craggy mountain range towers behind it, and it's visible from an airplane fying 30,000 feet in the air. But up close, it's hilariously obvious what the building is supposed to resemble. It's an igloo. It's a giant igloo hotel, and it's called Igloo City.
Obviously, this idea hails from the 1970s and the days of the geodesic dome. Some creative entrepreneurs decided to build a huge igloo-shaped hotel in the middle of the tundra along with a gas station and gift shop.
They called it a resort, but before the platters of lox could be served and hot toddies imbibed, the owners ran out of money. The dome-shaped outside was mostly finished, but the inside resembled a cathedral girded with timber. They didn't even have enough money to tear it down, so it was left there to rot.
You can still visit Igloo City. It's on the east side of highway 3 about 20 miles from Cantwell, a small town of about 200 people. If you're brave enough to make the drive, you might be sad to learn that there's not much left of the resort. The gift shop sells some trinkets, and evidently, the cashier is currently CEO of the company that oversees the property. Other than that, though, it's just another failed roadside attraction, waiting for the elements to run their course.
