Created: 11/20/2009 1:20 PM KSTP.com | Print |  Email

Museum Formally Known as Ironworld Closes

CHISHOLM, Minn. (AP) - The financially strapped museum in Chisholm formerly called Ironworld has closed. No reopening date has been set.

The nonprofit's board of directors decided this week to lay off the 26 full-time employees of the Minnesota Discovery Center starting on Friday.

Board chairman Rich Puhek says they couldn't find enough money to cover payroll and other day-to-day operations.

Many of the problems come from the drop in interest income from the $10 million endowment set up in 2007 to operate the museum. The drop was too large for a recent uptick in attendance to cover.

The 660-acre Discovery Center includes a museum, entertainment venue, park and research library. The facility changed its name in June.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)