Minneapolis Mushroom-Growing Business To Close Over Fire, Zoning Violations

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) –  A mushroom-growing business in the industrial area of north Minneapolis is closing amid conflicts with the city over zoning and fire code violations.

Mississippi Mushrooms has been in the location for the last 6 years.

WCCO's Marielle Mohs spoke to employees who said they didn't have enough time to make the changes.

It's an urban mushroom farm sitting along the banks of the Mississippi River just north of downtown.

"The biggest thing here is we want to focus on being locally sourced and also very sustainable," Mississippi Mushroom cultivator Courtney Osborn said.

Though quiet in the winter, this space comes alive in the summer as an outdoor farmers market.

"I was doing a lot of the farmers markets and I'm going to really miss that," Osborn explained.

There will be no more Mississippi Mushroom farmers markets because it's being forced to close in a week.

Osborn is one of the cultivators who helped grow what's in this room, which then gets sold to local restaurants, co-ops and farmers markets.

But their business is located in an industrial only zone, which does not allow urban farms or retail -- something the owner tells WCCO over the phone, he wasn't aware of when they moved in 6 years ago.

Also, these growing rooms did not pass city inspections.

The city gave Mississippi Mushrooms a month to fix the violations but the owner says that was not enough time to make those changes, forcing them to close.

"We all have a lot of passion going towards mushrooms still here, this didn't diminish all of us," Osborn said.

Mississippi Mushrooms obviously has a lot of product left but they want to make sure they get to mushroom lovers before they officially close on February 14th.

If you're interested in buying some of their product, you can reach out to them online.