Bloomington OKs purchase of farm site for World Fair bid

Published 9:52 pm Wednesday, September 20, 2017

BLOOMINGTON — Bloomington city officials voted Tuesday to buy the Kelley Farm property for $32 million to be a possible site for Expo 2023.

The 59-acre property sits between the mall and the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The farm has been owned by the same family since 1932, but the family decided in 2015 to put the land up for sale for possible development.

Minnesota is one of three finalists to host the World’s Fair event. The other finalists are in Argentina and Poland. The winning city will be chosen in November.

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Organizers said the three-month event would draw 150,000 visitors per day and have an economic impact of $4 billion.