William A. Irvin’s 2019 Season Opener Postponed Until July

Ship museum won't be open for the beginning of the 2019 season

DULUTH, Minn. – DECC officials confirmed Tuesday to FOX 21 that the William A. Irvin is expected to reopen for tours in July instead of Memorial Day as it waits to get work done at Fraser Shipyards in Superior.

The DECC’s executive director, Chelly Townsend, tells us the Irvin accounts for about $200,000 in revenue every year.

The attraction wasn’t open at all in 2018 because of the delayed Minnesota Slip reconstruction project.

Townsend said she expects the Irvin, which has been parked at Fraser since September, to be moved to a dry dock for repairs on May 1. She would like to bring it back to its regular spot in the Minnesota Slip on June 1, and open it for tours in July.

A spokesperson for Fraser tells us they’re still working with the DECC to figure out exactly what work needs to be one on the old U.S. Steel flagship.

Now, three working freighters have been moved ahead of the Irvin on Fraser’s dry dock schedule. That means the ship museum won’t be open for the early months of the 2019 tourism season.

“May and June we would normally be open and May is kind of our school group month and then June is the early tourists but July and August are really our busier times,” Townsend said.

“The William A. Irvin is a community treasure,” said Fraser President and COO James Farkas in a prepared statement. “The Team at Fraser Shipyards is honored that the DECC, the ship’s owner, has chosen the Fraser Team to paint the vessel and to perform the first significant overhaul in decades on this former working vessel, now a maritime museum.”

The ship hasn’t been repaired for 30 years. There is some deterioration on the lower hull. DECC staff expect Fraser to sand the outside of the hull and paint it.

When the Irvin is returned, the DECC has to spend time getting it ready for thousands of tourists.

“We really had to take it apart inside, batten down everything, and so it’s going to take about a month to get it up for tours,” said Townsend.

Students and seasonal employees are hired every year to work on the Irvin.

Because it won’t be a full season, the DECC is expecting it to be a little harder to hire those staff members this year.

The July opening date is just an estimation. The ship repairs haven’t started yet, and it’s possible they could get pushed back a bit, according to a Fraser spokesperson.

For past stories about the Irvin, click here.