Chisholm's Ironworld attraction is shutting down

Derek Neas, Associated Press

The Iron Range Interpretative Center opened in 1977 to preserve the heritage and culture of the immigrants who settled the Range. A geology museum and ethnic center were added in 1978 and 1979.

Star Tribune

Last update: November 20, 2009 - 8:27 PM

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The venerable Iron Range attraction formerly known as Ironworld is going dark -- at least temporarily.

Directors of the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm announced this week they would shut down at the end of business Friday, laying off 47 employees.

They said the current economy has caused the center's endowment to collapse to barely half of the $10 million it had been in 2007.

That more than offset an increase in attendance at the 660-acre complex, they said.

In a statement, the museum's chief executive, Mike Andrews, said, "the financing model developed two years ago, combined with the world economic situation, just doesn't work. Our overhead costs, not fundable by grants or sponsorships, are considerably higher than our declining subsidy and endowment interest."

The Iron Range Interpretative Center opened in 1977 with the goal of preserving the heritage and culture of the immigrants who settled the Range. A geology museum and an ethnic center were added in 1978 and 1979.

Subsidized by Iron Range Resources using proceeds from the state's taconite tax, the complex is billed by the directors as the biggest Minnesota museum outside the Twin Cities.

In an attempt to broaden its appeal, the directors earlier this year renamed it the Minnesota Discovery Center, scrapping the Ironworld name.

They said the shutdown is temporary, but laid out no concrete plans for reopening.

BOB VON STERNBERG

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