AURORA—Mayor Doug Gregor was proud to say there is life in his town with a number of current projects ongoing and he is hopeful about the city’s West Industrial Park, where ground was broken Thursday.
The industrial park in Aurora is being developed just northeast of the Highway 135 and County Road 100 intersection with the help of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation and others.
“So there’s life. It’s alive. It’s really heartening to see that kind of opportunity. It doesn’t come along often in a small community’s history,’’ Gregor said after the ceremonial turning of the first few shovels of dirt. “Aside from big mining projects, this is pretty big stuff here for economic development.’’
IRRR supported the project with a $20,000 Development Partnership grant to begin the park development process, followed by a $9 million Site Ready grant to help pay for the infrastructure and utilities to serve approximately 80 acres of park land. The agency will also provide the Aurora Economic Development Authority (AEDA) with a $6 million business loan to construct a 30,000-square-foot spec building to be leased to future manufacturing tenant(s). The city will retain ownership of the industrial property, other than the spec building which will be owned by AEDA.
Gregor is a big believer in the project to increase the city’s economic development.
“We’re relying heavily on the IRRRB, but there’s no question there’s an absence of it currently’’ in Aurora. He said the spec building will go along with the fairly developed industrial park that will have pads for economic development projects to go onto. “It’s a pretty inviting opportunity.’’
Gregor said some might already be in the works.
“I’ve heard the IRRRB is working on a major tenant for the main building and there’s some prospects. It’s not just pie in the sky.’’
The future of the community looks bright, according to Gregor, as several other projects are ongoing in the city and the East Range. They include a $33 million joint East Range water project that will be done by 2026; a housing development planned just south of County Road 100; a $6 million thoroughfare rebuild project for CR 100 and Main Street, which is fully funded already; the renovation of the Community Center. That’s in addition to new additions of the splash park and the pickleball courts.
“Aurora is seeing a new day,’’ IRRR Commissioner Ida Rukavina said at the groundbreaking. “I’m really excited to see what’s going to happen here. ... We’re really proud as an agency to support this project.’’
St. Louis County Commissioner Paul McDonald of Ely the Aurora project “is going to bring life to the community.
Rep. Rob Farnsworth of Hibbing said he was one of the skeptics of building spec buildings, but he has now seen the possibilities since the Detroit Diesel Remanfacturing facility located at the Chisholm-Hibbing Airport and has been very successful. The airport is owned by the C-H Airport Authority.
Rep. Roger Skraba of Ely spoke positively of the project.
“This is a big deal’’ and it will attract businesses, he said.
Gregor also spoke about how the spec building and industrial park will attract and accommodate much-needed potential new employment and associated economic activity.
“Since LTV’s closure years ago, there has been a reduction in the commercial sector of the community. As an older city, Aurora also suffers from having one of the lowest per capita income levels in the region. This new project brings the opportunity to expand the tax base and increase the population in Aurora and the surrounding communities,’’ he said in a news release about the groundbreaking.
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