By SEAN MORTIMER
Staff Reporter 

Ten Sleep warming hut now open

 

February 2, 2023



TEN SLEEP – The new warming hut in Ten Sleep opened on Jan. 28 and has completed the vision for the town’s park that Rachel Casteel of the Ten Sleep Recreational District set out to achieve years ago.

The warming hut is a place to gather at the park while ice skating, offering warmth and a place to relax in between skating sessions.

Casteel said that the hut has been a long time in the making, and that it has always been a part of the Recreational Board’s goal of finishing the park. She started with the district back in 2006 when it was just herself and Jan Abel.


She said of this time “I kept seeing these splash pads everywhere, and I thought ‘Why don’t we have that?’”

In August of 2012, the recreational district was able to complete their first major project at the park: a dual usage ice rink and splash pad. According to a 2012 article from Northern Wyoming Daily News, this entertainment venue was one of many plans for the park, which also included a soccer field, volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, a dog park and a walking path.


The warming hut, the most recent of these developments, was a community effort, according to Casteel.

When she was initially looking for a building to serve as the warming hut, her husband David Casteel recommended they talk to Montana Shed Company in Billings. She was directed to speak to the Tractor Guys in Worland, as they were one of their providers. Casteel was surprised to hear the familiar voice of Dorothy Richards answer her call and help her begin the process of putting the hut together.


The warming hut was custom built in Worland and arrived in Ten Sleep in September. Mike and Ashley Settlemire of Ten Sleep then finished the inside of the hut. David Casteel’s company Northern Wyoming Builders paid for materials and installed a pavilion near the creek at the park. Ten Sleep School’s Career and Technical Education program helped by making custom engraved benches for the hut, and Worland Kiwanis Club donated $750 to help purchase new ice skates.

Casteel said she greatly appreciated everyone’s help in making the warming hut a reality. She said “There were a lot of people in the community that came together and did a lot of work for it.”

The warming hut features automated locking doors that open at 8 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. seven days a week during skating season, and is fully Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible. It has security cameras to monitor the building and Wi-Fi thermostats that can detect a drop in temperature and alert someone to check on it. The hut is stocked with 66 pairs of new ice skates for visitors to borrow.

Casteel stated that the building is maintenance-free, and encourages people who use the facility to help keep it running by returning their skates when they are done using them, cleaning up after themselves, and turning the lights off when they exit the warming hut.

Casteel informed Northern Wyoming News that the warming hut would be her final project as a member of the Ten Sleep Recreation District. She thanks everyone in her community that has helped her on her mission to improve the town of Ten Sleep over the last 17 years.

An open house event was originally slated for last Saturday but was postponed due to the snow and drop to subzero temperatures. It has been rescheduled for this Saturday.

 
 

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