Former IronWorld USA attraction in Chisholm shuttering doors
by Bob Kelleher, Minnesota Public RadioDuluth, Minn. — The Iron Range attraction once known as IronWorld is closing its doors Friday.
The Minnesota Discovery Center will be shutting down at the close of business on Friday. The 660-acre, state-owned facility opened in Chisholm in 1977 as the Iron Range Interpretative Center. It was later renamed IronWorld USA and then last summer renamed again as the Minnesota Discovery Center.
The center gets an annual subsidy through Iron Range Resources, funded by the state's taconite production tax. The center, which includes a museum, entertainment facilities and park, has been plagued by poor attendance and a drop off in facility rentals.
Officials haven't commented on Friday's closing, but a note on the facility's Web site says it's going into temporary layoff mode, and will hopefully be back soon.
Bob Kelleher
• ReporterBob Kelleher joined MPR's Duluth News staff in 1990, after three years with a Duluth commercial radio station, and several years on broadcast stations in Iowa.
