It’s hard to believe, but with a lot of downtown developments, developers are not maximizing a huge area of square footage that they have. I’m talking about the roof. Developments that have planned for and provide the rooftop terrace amenity generally sell faster than developments that don’t have a rooftop terrace. Buyers moving from the burbs miss their outdoor spaces. If you are downtown, you may be lucky to get a small balcony, but no true socializing and entertaining outdoor space.

A rooftop terrace should be contemporary in style, and be the ultimate extension of a modern interior. To fit into its urban environment, low-maintenance plants are ideal. I’m personally fan of light colored pavers, large planters, and nice modern loungers and tables, also there’s nothing like a water feature to help drown out noise and provide a beautiful backdrop at night. Here’s some examples of other properties around the country and what they have done.

There’s lots more examples inside… Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Over the last serveral weeks, sculptures have been appearing every days as installation begins for the Pappajohn Sculpture Garden in the Western Gateway Park. I scoured the internet to find everything I could about this park to bring it all together in one place. Here’s what I found:

In February 2007 Des Moines Art Center Director Jeff  Fleming announced that Des Moines philanthropists John and Mary Pappajohn plan to give the Art Center a minimum of 16 major sculptures by internationally acclaimed contemporary artists. The Pappajohns are known worldwide and ARTnews magazine listed them as one of the top 200 art collectors in the world.

The collection of sculptures by artists Louise Bourgeois, Scott Burton, Deborah Butterfield, Anthony Caro, Tony Cragg, Willem deKooning, Mark di Suvero, Barry Flanagan, Ellsworth Kelly, Martin Puryear, Richard Serra, Joel Shapiro, Judith Shea, Tony Smith, and William Tucker will be the most significant donation of artwork to the Art Center in a single gift in the museum’s history.  According to art critics, the Pappajohns’ donation will likely bring Iowa renown as having one of the best public sculpture gardens in the world. In a new partnership formed with the city of Des Moines, the sculptures will be installed in the city’s Western Gateway Park in a permanent feature to be named The John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park.

Here are some of the works that have all ready been installed as of today (May 29th, 2009):

Spider, 1997 – Louise Bourgeois – American, born France, 1911 – Bronze – 94 x 94 x 84 inches

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Last year we ran a short piece about urban gardens and with this past weekends new garden planted by some of the 418 Liberty Condo residents, I thought we would run the story again with a couple of new photos courtesy of Perry Wehrle.

If you have a balcony or garden area downtown, here are some tips on planning for your urban garden:

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One of my favorite things about downtown are the beautiful flowers and plants that Operation Downtown plants every year in the downtown planters that line most of the downtown streets in the Downtown Core Neighborhood. I took this photo right outside the front doors to my building.

For the city of our size, Des Moines has an awesome collection of downtown green spaces. Within just a few blocks of most downtown office buildings or residential units you will be within footsteps of one of the following green spaces:

• Capitol Building Terrace
• Hansen Triangle
• Nollen Plaza
• Principal Riverwalk
• Simon Estes Riverfront
• Western Gateway Park

An just outside the main downtown area, is Gray’s Lake and Waterworks Park. The City of Des Moines’ Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for 72 parks with over 3,000 acres of green space and more than 30 miles of walking and biking trails.

I believe that urban green spaces, like those that we have in downtown, are an essential component in transforming and enriching our city. If Des Moines wants to continue and attract more people to move to and live in downtown, this amenity is an important factor for a lot of people. History has shown that parks play a pivotal role in shaping the success of urban areas. Take a look at Central Park in New York City, this is considered one of the first formal “parks,” and was created to be passive and beautiful, in contrast to the density of urban life. Central Park has become a destination, not only to it’s residents and workers, but to the tourist who come to New York City, and would consider a visit to Central Park as a “must-see” on their itinerary.

Two of our public green spaces are on the verge of some wonderful changes. Western Gateway Park will be turning into a world-class sculpture garden and Nollen Plaza has some plans to completely update and transform it into an awesome destination in the heart of the Downtown Core Neighborhood. Proposed inclusions in the Nollen Plaza update include a civic gate that acts as a waterfall in the warmer months and a frozen wall during the winter. Newly created public restorms would be incased inside of a large video media cube.

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Historic East Village is exploring the opportunities to begin a community urban garden, but before starting they are trying to gauge interest. They are currently conducting a survey over the next month that will help them determine what type of garden is desired, space needs, fees, location, commitment to maintenance and volunteer needs.

The group is currently working with Des Moines Parks & Recreation Department and the “built-in” community gardening program. The first task is to get some survey results from both downtown residents and downtown workers.

Based on the level of interst from the survey results, the first first hurdle will be land acquisition. This is where DM Parks & Rec comes in. There are a few city-owned parks in the area in which a portion of the space could be used for a garden. The two most promising are Cohen Park (which is somewhere on Hartford, but I haven’t yet scoped it out) and Witmer Park off E. 6th just south of the exit ramp. Security, lighting and water availability are the next hurdles. Again, the survey will help determine how many people are interested in participating in the garden, which will then determine how much land will bel needed; and the availability of utilities will help pinpoint the spot.

This idea stemmed from providing East Village residents with the opportunity to garden since one of the things you give up when you move downtown is your yard. But the ideas since have proved endless possibilities. Anyone will be welcome to use the garden – downtown workers, employees, visitors… it doesn’t matter. The groups hope is to hold gardening workshops/classes; planting and harvest parties; and other events to build community spirit.

Timeline: Now that the survey is out, they will gather responses through mid-November, then meet with the City again. If all goes well, they will have land identified by February 2009, rental contracts out by March, and land preparation underway in April before planting in May/June. They will also be working with genus landscape architects on soil testing (since this garden may be located in a warehouse district, who knows what chemicals have seeped into the ground in the last 100 years) as well as layout/design.

You can compelte the survey at:
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2dk87s1fm0xqk17/start

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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Just because you live an urban downtown area doesn’t mean that some of the residents don’t want to still have a little garden or some grass. Urban gardeners find themselves with new challenges and limitations. Rooftop gardens, hydroponics, and container gardening are examples of how urban gardeners have adapted to these new conditions.

So here’s a couple of examples of how some of the residents at Liberty Condos overcame the urban garden challenges.

Tina Johnson and Bob Barry decided to set up some planter boxes on their balcony and plant some grass seed. Keeping it trimmed requires nothing more than some garden scissors.

Another resident, Julie Vande Hoef, organized a group of residents to help plant the garden area in our parking garage terrace with a variety to flowers and small vegetables. I’m lucky enough to have a view of the garden from my window across the street. It brings a really nice touch to the area.

If you have a balcony or garden area downtown, here are some tips on planning for your urban garden:

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