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This video documentation of the six-month installation process of the Pappajohn Sculpture Park was produced by Blur MediaWorks as a gift to the City of Des Moines and the Des Moines Art Center.
Thanks to my friend Bob, I now have a camera mount attached to my bike handlebars. I’m able to attach one of my cameras and shoot video as I ride. The two videos included in this post are a sample of a recent ride I did Sunday evening around downtown.
I started my ride from Liberty Condos and made my way east to the Principal Riverwalk, south to Principal Park (it’s funny that it still says Sec Taylor Stadium on Google Maps, even though they changed names a few years ago), and then west to the Scott Avenue Pedestrian Bridge and then back down 2nd Avenue to Court Avenue, west to 4th and I snaked my way back to 6th and Grand.
My plans are to explore the various downtown trails this fall (weather permitting) and next spring and shoot videos from each of the trails to share. This will give everyone a great look at how wonderful our bike trail system really is. I personally think that we have some of the best bike riding trails around and am thankful that are so easily accessible for downtown dwellers.
P.S. It was pretty windy out there at times Sunday evening so you may here a lot of that during the video playback.
Here’s a video tour of the Robert D Ray Asian Gardens that I took yesterday evening using the new iPhone 3GS. I hope you enjoy.
One of my favorite things to do is get out and explore downtown Des Moines, especially with a focus on all the great architecture that can be found here. The Iowa Architectural Foundation each summer presents the Architecture @ Hand Walking Tours. This year marks the Foundations’s 20th year anniversary. In the past they’ve offered three different tour paths, this year they have four. I’ve already taken one this year and will probably end up taking several more. Check them out!
This is a video that was recently published on YouTube. It appears to be shot in 2006, and the editing isn’t perfect, but it’s a good overview of the what Des Moines has to offer. It was originally part of a tourism infomercial for Greater Des Moines Convention & Visitors Bureau.
I recently ran across a YouTube Video that a guy named Adam put together back in October to provide a mini tour of downtown Des Moines.
Let me begin with saying that I always try to be as positive as a person as possible, but I think in order for us to grow as a community, sometimes criticism is necessary. I will try to keep this story to just the facts as best as I can.
I had been looking forward to the advertised Historic East Village Holiday Home Tour for a couple of weeks. I convinced my friend Brian to come along since neither of us had really toured the housing opportunities in the East Village. The flyer for the event promised “Experience contemporary urban living as residents decorate their lofts for the Holidays.” I printed the map from their website, and at 2pm, the starting time indicated on the flyer, Brian and I set out to tour the six locations indicated on the map.
We parked our car at the corner of East Locust and East 4th, bundled up to brave the low 20s temperatures and started our tour at the SOHO Lofts. When walking down Locust Street we were looking for some Open House signs for the SOHO Lofts, but didn’t see any, but we found the entrance to the SOHO right down the block from the Village Bean. We were greeted at the elevator by a nice gentleman that explained we would be looking at 3 lofts today, two from residents and one unoccupied. So far so good. The first loft we looked at was one of the smaller ones with a nice resident, but I don’t really recall the unit being decorated for the Holidays. Then we went up a floor to a larger unit, this one was nice and included a Christmas tree. Then the tour continued to an unfinished unit out in the courtyard. Honestly, neither of us were that impressed with the SOHO project, but that’s why there is variety downtown, something for everyone.
This weekend, ST Howard Development and the Historic East Village Association is hosting a a holiday home tour on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday’s event runs from 4pm to 6pm and Sunday’s event runs from 2pm to 4pm.
By visiting participating lofts you can not only experience contemporary urban living all decorated up for the holidays, up also register to win gifts and specials from East Village shops and restaurants.
Participating in the Home Tour are:
As you may know, November 1st is generally recognized as All Saints Day, followed by All Soul’s Day on November 2nd. So in spirit of this holiday, I decided to venture into downtown’s cemetery, Woodland Cemetery and get some photos against the wonderful fall backdrop.
But before we get to the photo’s here’s a little history about Woodland Cemetery. First of all Woodland Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Des Moines. It was founded in 1848, consists of over 65 acres and home to more than 85,000 graves. We saw gravestones dating back to the mid 1850s. Lot’s of Des Moines famous founders and leaders over the years can be found here.
If you are more interested in this cemetery, guided tours are available throughout the year, during good weather.
WHEN: The tours last about 1 hour 45 minutes and can be arranged by appointment. Call (515) 967-7708.
COST: $5
DONATIONS: Tax-deductible donations for restoration projects at Woodland Cemetery and its Catholic section, St. Ambrose Cemetery, can be sent to the office at 4909 University Ave., Des Moines, IA 50311.
Enjoy the photos!
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.
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.
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.
Last month I wrote a post on Des Moines finally making it on Google’s Street View tool. Why Google’s Street View is very cool, it could get even cooler. It was published today that a new satellite has been launched into space will provide Google with even more unprecedented resolution.
It’s a joint venture between a commercial satellite imaging provider and the Department of Defense. In return for undisclosed terms, Google got two considerations: its logo on the side of the launch vehicle, and exclusive use of the mapping images that the satellite produces. The new satellite hardware is a significant improvement over previous generations. Its camera drops the resolution of images down from a meter to half that figure—apparently, the hardware goes down to 0.41m.
Until Google publishes pictures from that new satellite, here’s a new tool added to our Downtown Maps page that allows you to see downtown three different ways simultaneously:
A full screen version of the tool is more fun to play with and is available as a link under the tool. Please just don’t use these tools on your mobile device while driving, as this post’s picture shows what can happen.
So this evening I finally made it to one of the Architecture @ Hand Walking Tours. I did the North tour and had a great time learning about some of the buildings that I walk by everyday. The architectural details that my guide pointed out are things I have totally missed, but now will notice again and again on my walks through downtown. I never knew so many famous architects have designed buildings in our downtown and that we had so many different styles of architecture for a city our size. Now, I can’t wait till next summer when I can do the West, East and the new South tour. I would highly recommend these tours to anyone, it will help you experience downtown in a new and different way.
One of my favorite buildings, the Ruan Building, was completed in 1975, and stands 460 feet tall with 36 floors. It’s the second tallest building in Iowa. The outside is made out of Cor-Ten steel, which is an alloy designed to withstand the weather and require no maintenance (cleaning or painting). The building was supposed to weather to a rich red-brown color, but due to the cleaner atmosphere here, never quite made it to that color. I learned that the streaking on the building came from the window caulking that was used melting and running down the side of the building. A lot of people here thought the building was a big rust bucket, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I love the look of it.
From the Iowa Public Television site, I found this list of the 50 most significant Iowa Buildings
of the 20th Century as selected by the AIA-Iowa Chapter. The majority of these buildings are in downtown Des Moines. Dates listed here are completion dates.
* Designates building of the decade.
** Designates building of the century (which is also building of its decade.)
It looks like over the last few weeks construction has really started up on the new Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield company headquarters building. As a downtown resident this brings hope and anticipation with new construction that continues to bring vitalization to our downtown, but the same time begs the question what’s going to happen to all the current leased spaces that these companies occupied? With Wellmark moving out of the Ruan and Davis Brown Law Firm moving out of the Financial Center, who will move to occupy those large spaces?
Wellmark’s new five-story, 550,000 square feet building, on 6.5 acres will be a huge addition to downtown. The building beautiful architecture will look awesome sitting across from Western Gateway Park the new Pappajohn Sculpture Garden. Here’s a video that shows off the beautiful architecture of the building:
