Sep-6-2008

Short History of the Des Moines Skyline


The architectural tour I took this week got me really thinking about downtown buildings. So I started doing a little research on our city skyline and the various buildings that make up that skyline and here’s what I found out.

The city of Des Moines has always had, what some consider fairly substantial skyline, for a population-base of its size. For example, the 19-story Equitable Building that was built in 1924 was at the time the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. It stayed the tallest building in Iowa until the 25-story Financial Center was completed in 1972. The Financial Center only held the honor of tallest building in Iowa for two years. In 1974 the 36-story Ruan Center was added to the Des Moines skyline. It would be 17 more years before the Ruan Center would get knocked down to second place by the 801 Grand tower that was completed in 1991. It has been another 17 years now, and no other taller structure is in the works, hopefully this will change, how else can we keep up with the Joneses, I mean with that city to the west, Omaha.

According to some there’s this whole rivalry between Des Moines and Omaha. Des Moines has over a half million people in the metro and Omaha has a over three-quarters of a million, yet the Des Moines skyline seems larger than Omaha’s. I’m sure if all depends on what you use to analyze or justify your statistics. Sure Omaha has a taller building than we do, by a whole 0.9 meters. So let’s take a look at this table that I put together that compares the number of buildings in four size ranges.

Height Des Moines Omaha
Over 100 meters 5 3
Over 90 meters 8 5
Over 80 meters 11 8
Over 70 meters 12 14
Total Buildings Over 70 meters 36 30

So how about those numbers? Now in doing my research I also uncovered a failed proposal for Des Moines to have one of the tallest buildings outside of Chicago in the United States at the time. It was the Iowa World Trade Center Tower, it was to be 88 stories high and almost 305 meters tall. 

Now the current Des Moines skyline is in large part thanks to the destruction of some previous tall structures. According to some research, the following buildings have been razed over the years to make way for what we have now.

Razed Building Occupied Now By
The Alexandria Theatre Savery Hotel
Babe’s Restaurant Building Liberty Building Parking Garage
Bankers Life Building  
Brown Hotel  
Capital City Bank Building  
Chamberlain Hotel Ruan Center
Citizens National Bank Building  
Clapp Block / Iowa Mutual Tornado Capital Square
Crocker Block  
Des Moines Life Insurance Building  
Franklin Hotel  
Harris-Emery Department Store Financial Center
Observatory Building Capital Square
Old Post Office/US Court Building  
Royal Union Life Building Des Moines Marriott Hotel
Securities Building  
Youngerman Block  

I’m hoping soon to offer some before and after photos of downtown intersections. Stay tuned!

Be Sociable, Share!
By MulderDSM

Rate this story:
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (9 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
7 comments


Similar Posts:
    None found

Permalink | Trackback URL | 7,399 views
Posted under Living Downtown | Last modified on December 27th, 2008.
Tags: |


Coup_468_60_IEbanner




Currently 7 Comments and/or Trackbacks on "Short History of the Des Moines Skyline"

Subscribe to our Comments Feed

  1. CityBoy on Sat, 6th Sep 2008 4:05 pm 

    Here is a rough picture of what the Iowa World Trade Center was to look like:



  2. Pete Jones on Sun, 7th Sep 2008 4:31 pm 

    This is great info! I bet it will be a long time before we see another tower that is taller, or in comparison to, the 801 Grand structure. I think the memory of 9/11 will keep any potential plans on the back burner, plus it appears most of our local businesses are content with building numerous 9 to 10 story buildings as they have higher “resale” value should they decide to leave Des Moines.



  3. Christine on Thu, 23rd Oct 2008 6:56 pm 

    Thanks for this interesting history! I’m enjoying the pictures of downtown, both old and new. It’d be cool if the Historical Building did a photo show of the history of downtown. I also think it’d make an awesome decorating theme somewhere in my home….
    PS, “Razed is torn down; raised is brought up” fyi :)



  4. MulderDSM on Thu, 23rd Oct 2008 8:47 pm 

    Thanks for the comments!

    I also fixed the spelling to “razed”. :)



  5. Calmuse on Fri, 23rd Jan 2009 1:17 am 

    Prior to 1924, there were already several early skyscrapers, of which two immediately come to mind. One is still standing, the 1907 Fleming Building at 6th & Walnut, the first steel-frame building in the state. Another was the 200-foot 1895 Observatory Building, which was razed in 1937. The Observatory Bldg. featured a rooftop garden and “theatorium” and it was outfitted with elevators, modern restroom facilities, and its own electrical and gas generating plants. Here’s an image:
    http://www.absolutedsm.com/images/Facts%20and%20Stats/1Observatory%20Building.jpg
    The “Blast from the Past” thread on AbsoluteDSM has a longer story about the
    Observatory Bldg.



  6. Calmuse on Fri, 23rd Jan 2009 1:23 am 

    As an addendum to the skyline’s history, the Iowa-Des Moines National Bank Bldg. at 520 Walnut (later known as the Valley National Bank Bldg. and now occupied by US Bank, I believe) was originally planned as the base of an Art Deco skyscraper that would have surpassed the Equitable Bldg. in height. The Depression put an end to those plans, but the ornate five-story base was completed in 1932. Originally, even the bank’s interior fittings, down to the very desks at which employees worked, were all conceived in a highly articulated Art Deco detail that matched the exterior.



  7. Barbara Mack on Sat, 25th Sep 2010 6:34 am 

    Calmuse: I’ve lived in DSM all my life and never knew that the IDM building could support a tower! Gracias!