IRRRB Awards $250,000 to Upgrade Hoyt Lakes Recreation and Wellness Center

A building that hosts hockey games, school dances, and weddings while also serving as a designated backup morgue during major emergencies is about to get its first significant round of physical improvements. The Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board awarded a $250,000 grant to the City of Hoyt Lakes to support Phase I upgrades to the Hoyt Lakes Recreation and Wellness Center, according to the IRRRB's Ranger newsletter and regional reporting by Businessnorth.

The grant is part of a $2,246,933 Phase I budget for the arena, which regional outlets including the Mesabi Tribune have described as a $2.2 million project. The IRRRB contribution, listed in project documents as IRRR (TEPF) $250,000, is one of several funding sources assembled for the work. Minnesota State Bonding provides $641,466, the City of Hoyt Lakes contributes $1,355,467, a Community Development Block Grant adds $275,000, and architectural and engineering costs account for $438,000, with a contingency of $185,669 rounding out the Phase I budget. A separate, larger total of $6,485,545 appears in project documents alongside the Phase I figures, though the relationship between that broader number and the Phase I budget has not been explicitly detailed in available materials.

Phase I work covers new entry doors, vertical wheelchair lifts, bleachers, and site concrete and parking lot improvements. The upgrades address a facility that functions as a regional hub far beyond Hoyt Lakes city limits. The arena serves Aurora, Biwabik, and the Town of White, and its users include the Mesabi East School District, athletic groups, health care clinics, police and fire departments, and senior citizen groups. The venue hosts weddings, graduations, school dances, pickleball, hockey, basketball, concerts, and professional training, and it is formally designated as a backup morgue for the area during major emergencies and disasters.

The Hoyt Lakes grant was one of dozens of IRRRB actions reported by Businessnorth reporter Lee Bloomquist. The board also approved a $6.1 million allocation for ongoing flood damage repairs at Giants Ridge Recreation Area stemming from a June 18 flood, and a $2 million grant to the Natural Resources Research Institute and the Minnesota Industrial Transformation Initiative to begin researching and building a hydrogen-fueled green iron plant demonstration facility on the Iron Range.

Other awards included $3.6 million to the Mesabi Fit Coalition for renovation of the former Mesabi Family YMCA in Mountain Iron, $2.4 million to the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm, and $3 million to Lone Pine Township to design and begin constructing a sewage treatment plant in partnership with Nashwauk. Aurora received a separate $500,000 grant toward a $9 million water treatment facility that would eventually serve Aurora, the Town of White, Biwabik, and Hoyt Lakes as well.