A Minnesota welcome center is being torn down & rebuilt just across the Iowa border on Interstate 35. The Gopher State got permission from Iowa officials to temporarily park a trailer at the “Top of Iowa” Welcome Center –in Iowa– to pass out Minnesota tourism information. Steve McMenamin (mik-MEN’-ah-min) is the Iowa D-O-T’s rest area administrator. He says the agreement was negotiated over the past few months and seemed like the neighborly thing to do. He says Minnesota is not being charged any rent.McMenamin is not concerned about the state of Iowa losing any potential tourism dollars to Minnesota, plus, he says Iowa may actually pick up some tourists. He says Minnesota would help Iowa out if the situation was reversed. A spokesman for Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura reportedly said, in jest, it’s the first part of their plan to take over the state of Iowa.
