Today is the first day of Fall, so I thought it would be appropriate to take a snapshop look of where we are currently and what is predicted for us as we head into this fall season.

This summer has seen everything from flooding to tornadoes, and only five days above 90, which is very unusual for Des Moines.

The Farmer’s Almanac predicts a tough winter for us. Supposedly we are in for some bone-chilling, colder than average winter with our usual levels of snows, 32-33 inches compared to last year’s 45 inches.

Over the next few weeks I hope to get some pictures posted with the fall leaves. Here’s hoping that fall lasts us well into December and we don’t get snow in October like we did last year.

Gym F/X 418 6th Avenue – Suite 110, Des Moines, Iowa 50309 Phone: 515-288-1111 Website: www.gymfxandtannging.com  Current Gym Hours: Monday – Friday 5am – 9pm Saturday 8am – 5pm Sunday 9am – 1pm Current Tanning Hours: Monday – Thursday 10am – 7pm Saturday – Sunday Closed

Gym F/X Fitness and Tanning is located in the historic Liberty Building on the corner of 6th and Grand in downtown Des Moines. The gym is located on the 1st floor, tanning salon and juice bar is located on the 2nd floor or skywalk level.

Gym Equipment:

40 Pieces Cardio Equipment Cardio Theatre w/Flat Screen Monitors Selectorized Circuit Training (FAST and effective) Strength Equipment – Complete line of Precor strength equipment, 35,000 lbs Olympic Free Weights

Tanning Salon:
6 Bed Tanning Salon Including 3 Stand- Up Units High Pressure Facial Tanning All GYM F/X Members save 15% on tanning session packages. 5 Levels of Tanning Available

Juice Bar/Nutrition Center:
GymF/X offers food to go at there Juice Bar which features APEX meal Replacement Products along with an exclusive line of nutritional APEX supplements that are recommended with your goals and lifestyle in mind.

This gym is perfect for both those that work downtown or live downtown. The gym has a full staff of professional trainers, full-size locker rooms and showers. For more information on the gym contact Doug Van Wyk at 515-288-1111.

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Not sure if you any of watch Bravo TV’s hit real estate show, Million Dollar Listings, the show follows real estate agents based in Hollywood and Malibu who sell condos and homes that have an asking price of more than one million dollars. This show got me thinking, what will a million plus dollars get you in downtown Des Moines? I did some quick research and found five listings in 50309, two in the Whiteline Lofts and three listings in the Equitable Building. Check out what’s currently being offered downtown at over a million dollars.

I was also interested to see what has sold for over $1 million since January 1, 2007, so here you go:

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Yesterday as part of the Doors of the Past – Sherman Hill Walking Tour, I was able to tour the historic Murillo building. The building is currently located at the corner of 16th Street & High Street in the Sherman Hill’s neighborhood. The building had been originally located at 531 14th Street, just three blocks from it’s current location.

The Murillo building was built in 1905 and is a three story, brick and masonry apartment building with six rental units, two per floor. The building was moved to the new site to help make room for Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shields new headquarters. The building’s move took place on March 1st and 2nd of this year and was even filmed for the History Channel and should debut later this year as part of their National Geographic Monster Moves series. I’ve included a couple of short YouTube videos from local videographers below. The move cost over $1 million and took 17 days to prepare for and took about eight hours to go the three and half blocks to its destination. 

The Murillo buildings is currently on the list for nominations to the National Register of Historic Places. According to it’s nomination details, the building is considered an outstanding example of the “flat building”, a new architectural form that was emerging in Des Moines at the turn of the century. The Murillo Flats was orginally dubbed the “McNamara Flats,” but its owners James McNamara changed the building’s name to Murillo Flats to recognize a favorite Spanish painters, Bartolome Esteban Murillo (c. 1617-1682) who was being featured in a Des Moines art exhibition at the time. The word “flats,” which was used in Britain at the time (and today) to describe an apartment building, enjoyed certain popularity in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, so the building was called the Murillo Flats.

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This morning, me and couple of my friends took the 2008 Doors of the Past Walking Tour in Sherman Hill, Des Moines’ oldest neighborhood. From its beginnings in the 1870s until today, this neighborhood has maintained a prominent place in the city’s heritage and its architecture has earned distinction as Des Moines’ first local historical district in 1982.

Sherman Hill is a neighborhood that has seen a renaissance in the last ten years, but there is still more to do. The pictures I took along the way show some really nice homes and others that are in of desperate attention. According to the neighborhood’s website: There are numerous factors that draw people to Sherman Hill and have helped fuel the renaissance of the neighborhood. Sherman Hill is an “urban” neighborhood that offers a rare concentration of rich architecture and history that can be found few places in the Des Moines metropolitan area. The proximity of Sherman Hill to downtown, the Ingersoll and Cottage Grove Business Districts, and Iowa Methodist Medical Center all contribute to Sherman Hill’s desirability.

Sherman Hill became one of the City’s first recognized neighborhood associations in 1993. In recent years the Sherman Hill Association has succeeded in its efforts to enhance more aspects of quality of life in the neighborhood. That dedication has resulted in many improvements to the area. Among their more notable accomplishments are the addition of historic street lighting, the success of the annual Walking Tour, the preservation of homes slated for demolition in other parts of the city, and reduction in crime, increased property values and numerous rehabilitation projects spearheaded by the residents and the association.

Sherman Hill offers a unique mix of Victorian, Queen Anne, Italianate, Turn-of-the-Century Four Squares, Double Houses, Stick Style and Flemish architecture.

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Looking out from my 9th floor unit I have a clear view of the back on one of Des Moines’ oldest landmarks. The umbrella sign was erected in 1963 on top of the Insurance Exchange Building at 5th and Grand Avenue. The sign was the logo for the Travelers Insurance Company until the logo was abandoned in 1995. A few years later, the insurance company was acquired by Citigroup, which kept the umbrella logo and sold the insurance company.

The 50-foot wide sign, that’s about 40-foot tall, can easily be seen driving down I-235 and is is still one of the first sights that drivers from the east notice when approaching the downtown on I-235.

The sign faced dismemberment a few times since it was installed, and was pretty run down until, left neglected over the years, but in the fall of 2005, the sign returned to it’s former glory. That’s when the Graham Group, owner of the Insurance Exchange Building on which the sign sits, agreed to take over maintenance of the sign.

The Travelers sign has become an unlikely Des Moines landmark.

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Nomination Deadline: September 22nd and can be emailed to: swilkeshapiro@gmail.com.
 

The Des Moines Rehabbers Club is seeking nominations from the public to name “Des Moines’ Seven Most Endangered Buildings.” Neighborhood groups, individuals, and businesses are encouraged to submit nominations for buildings in danger of demolition or neglect. Nomination forms are available for download at http://renovatedsm.com/node/305 and must be received by September 22, 2008 or can be emailed to: swilkeshapiro@gmail.com.

Eligible buildings must be located within the city of Des Moines, must be threatened with active demolition or severe neglect, and should not be in a condition that is beyond the possibility of rehabilitation. Buildings may be residential or commercial, of any size and being used for any purpose. The list will be announced in mid-October.

The Des Moines Rehabbers Club hopes to raise awareness of endangered structures in Des Moines and to promote opportunities for rehabilitating them.

The Des Moines Rehabbers Club is a group of people of all skill levels with a common interest in preservation, rehabilitation, and maintenance of Des Moines’ buildings. Free monthly meetings take place on the first Saturday of each month. Topics range from demonstrations and “work in progress” tours to classroom topics such as how to look up a home’s history. For more information you can  visit: http://renovatedsm.com/

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Announced in July 2004, as part of one of downtown’s largest employer’s 125th anniversary celebration, the Principal Riverwalk would be one of the largest downtown transformations that the city has seen. It’s now more than four years later and I thought it would be appropriate for an overview of what was planned and what has been delivered since then.

With an opening cost projection of around $26 million, a ground breaking ceremony for Phase I took place on July 22nd, 2004. Principal would originally donate $10 million with the rest to be raised through community, civic and state monies. At that time, it was purposed that later phases may incorporate a half million dollar skate park and white water rapids courses.

By March 2005, costs estimates were more than double, now a total cost was being estimated around $55 million due to some additions to the original plan such as upgrading the Meredith Trail connector to Gray’s Lake and upgrading Principal Park to include a plaza with fountains right outside the park. Also the Hansen Company Triangle was being added to the mix.

By end of 2006, cost estimates were now totaling close to $74 million almost three times what the original cost estimate was in 2004. As 2006 drew to close, five projects had been completed totaling $15 million. The Brenton Skating Plaza, cost $4.5 million, more than double the original estimate. The Union Railroad Bridge that opened in July cost $4.5 million – $2 million more than expected.

The largest aspect of the Riverwalk project yet to be completed is the Center Street pedestrian bridge. Construction began on the site Aug. 15, with an expected completion date of late next year.

The bridge will be 400 feet long and feature 100-foot-tall arches. This bridge will be much bigger than the blue arched bridge on Interstate 235, which is only 280 feet long.

The Center Street Bridge originally was sited directly above the Center Street Dam, but will be built slightly upstream instead. The shift will make construction simpler and allow better access for any future work on the dam. It also cuts costs by shortening the span.

All riverwalk projects for Phase I should be completed by year-end 2009. I can’t wait to see it all done. This will make downtown living even more appealing.

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“Get off your soapbox” may be what you begin to hear if plans go forward on an idea to put a “speakers corner” at the Principal Riverwalk. The The idea of a speakers corner came from a belief in the importance of freedom of speech, engagement and the art of oration. 

The Des Moines Register had an article yesterday that stated that’s the Iowa National Bar Association, a group of composed of minority lawyers has raised approximately $500,000 of its $1,000,000 goal to building a speakers platform on the Principal Riverwalk. A design or actual location hasn’t been determined as of yet, but they are looking at a spot near the federal courthouse building with hopes to break grown at the beginning of the year.

Leading the effort is Polk County District Judge Odell McGhee who wants to make this project on the scope of what Hyde Park has in London. The vision is to have a gathering spot where anyone could stand up and express opinions, “even if the KKK wanted to go there … anybody could go there to play a flute, debate, yell back and forth,” he said. An act of the British Parliament paved the way for the original in London’s Hyde Park almost 150 years ago. A speakers corner is to be located in the heart of the city and be shown as a powerful symbol of citizens’ rights, as well as focus for civic pride and a platform for free public exchange in the midst of the downtown events.

I’ve personally witnessed the speakers corner in Hyde’s Park a few years ago when I was in London. It seemed a popular attraction on Sundays when a range of speakers would get up on their soapboxes and ladders to argue with the passing crowds. I found it quite interesting to watch.

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I think one of the coolest looking buildings downtown right now is the Des Moines Public Library building located on the eastern edge of the Western Gateway Park at 1000 Grand Avenue. This building is gorgeous both during the day when the bright sun is shining on it and fascinating to look at during the evening hours when it’s all lit from inside.

For a mere $32 million, the City of Des Moines, had a famous British architect, David Chipperfield design and build us a 140,000 square feet structure. The building also sports green roof construction, a first of its kind for the City of Des Moines. The function of the Green Roof Infrastructure provides many benefits to the building and the surrounding community as well as the beauty it brings.

The building appears windowless but turns out to have a plethora of full-height glazed surfaces. Triple glazing with an integrated copper mesh enables this optical illusion to occur. During the day, the façade seems opaque and glows with a warm, coppery colour. At night, when interior lights are on, the façade becomes transparent. This transparency allows the people on the inside of the library feel as if they are actually outside in a park.

If you look at the library from above, it resembles an airplane with the wings of the building meeting each other at broad angles. Reports show that the idea behind this shape was for the building to embrace its green surroundings and to create sheltered areas or ‘pocket parks’ between the wings.

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