PLANNING

Suggestions for the Beautifying of Des Moines

Frank Mulford Robinson, 1909

A participant in the City Beautiful movement, Robinson looked at the existing Des Moines and its possible futures in an almost entirely aesthetic dimension, proposing parks and wide boulevards throughout the city.

"...a city rich, ambitious, enterprising..." - A fast-growing city, Des Moines represented the economic powerhouse of the state, being the central trading area for agricultural products as well as wholesale and retail goods. This plan in itself demonstrates the ambition of the small metropolis.

"Devoted to Residences" - the richer Western half of the city, is deemed "devoted" to residential zoning, unlike the historically disinvested northern and eastern portions of Des Moines.

"Picturesque Rolling Land" - The era's fashion for taking pleasure drives made the area immediately north of Des Moines' downtown district attractive for its hills, revines, and river views.

"High Rolling Land (Sparsely Settled)" - South of downtown, Robinson calls upon the local's agrarian impulse, leaving the wide open country just outside of the city.

"the Eighteenth Street Road ... ties up well with the western boulevard-parkway system. All the roads offer pleasant country views." - the Dico Site, unlike its contaminated state today, just the edge of the city proper, giving residents access to recreation around agricultural land.

"It is by itself, on land that would not be useful for other purpose, is central and yet is sufficiently isolated" - The Dico Site's greater vicinity, south of downtown, north of the Raccoon River, is mentioned explicitly in its being well-suited for an industrial area. Out of sight, but nearby, it is "isolated" by railroads and surrounding roads.

Improvements Proposed in the Central Section of the City

Bartholomew & Associates, 1927

In Harlan Bartholemew's 1927 plan for the city of Des Moines, he incorporates the projected City Place plat, now the Dico Site, into the overall urban fabric with the major arterial roads linking the area to what is now Fleur Drive, the Western Gateway area, and the eastern industrial areas. This road was not built.

Major Street Plan

Bartholomew & Associates, 1940

"Murphy Street should be extended to Southwest Twenty-first Street on the west and to the new Raccoon River Bridge on the east. It will also serve existing and future industrial development in the area south of the central business district." - In Bartholomew's 1940 plan, the area occupied by the Dico site was returned to its industrial use, and efforts were made, including a new plan for an East-West connector, to bridge with the rest of the city. The City Place plat is now not reflected in the map.

1980 General Plan

City Plan Commission, 1963

"The proposed east-west industrial highway south of the central business district, the Des Moines Freeway...[has] been integrated into industrial traffic circulation planning." - This plan stresses the need for more circulation throughout the city, especially south of downtown, where industrial areas were more dependent on railroads. Distribution by trucking required additional street access.

"an oversupply of industrial land" - The planners, looking forward 17 years to 1980, saw an impending reduction in industrial activity into the city.

"This industrial area, which adequately served prior to the "automotive age", now is inadequate..." - Bound by railroads and the river, the industrial neighborhood was outdated for its current purposes and modern logistics.

Des Moines Vision Plan 1

Mario Gandelsonas, 1989

"developed through a continuing dialogue with the community" - Gandelsonas, an architectural theorist at Princeton University, put on emphasis on the growing value of community engagement when proposing his design to the city of Des Moines.

"formal and symbolic aspect of the physical city" - The Vision Plan created a link between important nodes in Des Moines, placing the Capitol building at one end of an axis, and a commercial district at the other.

"focus on establishing relationship between buildings" - Buildings and blocks in this plan appear interchangable, focusing attention on the larger formal moves that are made.

""The virtual chaos of the metropolitan landscape" - Gandelsonas saw the city as an artifact of economic and political focus, and one that could be better shaped as one cohesive whole using urban design.

Des Moines Vision Plan 2

Mario Gandelsonas, 2007

"Instead of the traditional 'Master Plan', the Vision Plan..." - Gandelsonas separates his process from past efforts, giving the city looser concepts from which to build their environment. Calling it a "Vision Plan" avoids the "Master" terminology and gives his ideas a more conceptual lens.

"from restriction to freedom" - Key to this plan was putting the city on multiple gradients, for example, instilling in an area like the central business district a tightknit character, which abruptly changes at the river's edge.

"from determinate to indeterminate" - Gandelsonas' plan does not prescribe realistic building proposals, especially in the area around the Dico site. Instead he suggests vague ideas some places, while others, like the Western Gateway Park, are detailed.

"from order to chaos" - Again looking at the makeup of the city, the plan tries to reflect the importance of ordered districts for business while giving over recreational and entertainment districts more leeway.

Planning for the Future: A Reuse Planning Report for the Des Moines TCE Superfund Site Dico Property

E2 inc on behalf of the EPA, 2007

"The location of high-density residential buildings in this area capitalizes on the area’s proximity to the river, with its associated aesthetic and recreational benefits." - The report highlights the positive aspects of the Dico Site, looking at the premium paid for access to views and parks that has been emphasized since the Beautification plan of 1909.

"In terms of soil contamination, high-density residential and mixed-use development in this area would be located on land that likely is relatively uncontaminated." - The site, soaked in decades of toxic chemicals, is unattractive for residential development, and thus real estate values. Siting these on less contaminated land creates more value.

"These manufacturing facilities created products and supported jobs for decades, representing a vital part of a community’s heritage." - Unlike other proposals, the proposal for the EPA seeks to keep something of the industrial character of the site rather than start over carte-blanche.

Grays Lake Office Park Concept Development Plan

Sherman Associates, 2012

An example of one of many proposals for the land directly east of the Dico Site, Sherman Associates proposes an office park with a residential component to the south. The still up-in-the-air Dico site is roughly sketched out in black and white as a sort of park land with trails and event space. Sherman Associates owns and develops much of the area, alluding to Grays Lake with each iteration. They later sold the westernmost lots on this plan to Krause Group.

Untitled - Proposed Police Station and School Stadium

City of Des Moines, 2017

"It's always good when public entities can work together, and this project may lead to a good example of that." - Phil Roeder of Des Moines Public Schools promoted a project that placed a police station and school stadium on the Dico Site. They sat side-by-side with private land to the east, planned in large part by Sherman Associates.

"One of our priorities, of course, is that any site is safe and buildable for our needs." - After years of disuse, it was clear that the city would have to take on the site and its remediation itself. Putting institutions involving children (a school stadium) and public safety (a police station) on a toxic site required extra attention to the public relations involved in making this plan work.

Regarding Dico Site Redevelopment

Krause+, 2020

"activate a portion of Des Moines that is primed for an economic boom." - In October 2020, Gerard Haberman, the president of Krause Group's philanthropic arm, Krause+ wrote to the Des Moines City Council with a plan to take on the Dico site.

"an important catalyst for redeveloping Des Moines' central core." - Using the most contemporary start-up lingo, Krause+ offers themselves as the city's central catalyst for change and improvement.

"This development will continue the grand vision the city has established" - The allusion to the existing planning of the city cannot go unnoticed, with a history stretching back over a century.

"This area will also utilize Krause Group-owned land." - Krause Group had, over several years, bought up much of the land near the Dico Site, including land just to the east, previously owned by Sherman Associates. Their headquarters is just to the north at the Western Gateway Park.

"This infrastructure is designed to expand urban density" - Increasing the density of Des Moines has long been on the city's priorities. By initiating this plan, Haberman insists there will be more reason for area residents to move downtown.

"making Des Moines a more vibrant place to live" - Vibrancy in this context refers to the events that the Krause+ organization hopes to put on in the area, including sports and cultural events.

"activating an area of downtown that has been decaying and unusable" - The reference to the current Dico site, long an eyesore and sore spot for city representatives, is a reminder of its current state, as well as an enticement to change it.

Untitled - Krause+ and Pro Iowa Stadium

Krause+, 2021

"We really view it as a center point of connectability between a lot of different ... activities that happen around the city." - Dan Jensen, of the Pro Iowa soccer organization, highlights the isolation and lack of connection with the rest of the city, showing how their plan would change that.

"How do we engage the plaza 365 days a year?" - The neighborhood, focusing specifically on events and sporting, is highly dependent on weather and season, bringing into question the year-round character of the site.

"As we dug in and started to learn about stadiums of the future, it became very clear that the future of development around stadiums is to create a district" - Danny Hegen of Krause+ focuses readers' attention on the composition of the site beyond the stadium. While soccer is a pet project of the Krause's, there is mixed-use development around the stadium that helps support it.