Amana, IA to Des Moines, IA
Des Moines is the capital of Iowa and center of a metropolitan area of around 650,000 residents. Fort Des Moines was built on the banks of the Des Moines River in 1843, named after the French Colonial name “Riviere des Moines”, meaning “River of the Monks.” The settlement was incorporated in 1851 and the small town was chosen as the state capital of Iowa in 1857. Growth was slow until a railroad came to the area in 1866. At the same time coal mining developed in the immediate area of the city and by 1893 there were 23 mines in the region. By 1908 the coal mines were largely exhausted but other businesses emerged to fuel the local economy. Today Des Moines is the center of the insurance business in the United States with numerous company headquarters, home to regional bank and financial institutions and many other large manufacturing and technology companies. The city is centered on the Des Moines River Valley, a broad valley with low hills on either side. The commercial center of Des Moines is on the west bank, the government complex is on the crest of the hills on the east bank. Dominating all is the gold dome of the State of Iowa Capital Building (and I do mean “gold”, the central dome is covered with 23 karat gold.)
The interior of the capitol building is magnificent, with two wings reaching out from the Grand Staircase in the central rotunda.
The second floor consist of a circular gallery with the House of Representatives and Senate chambers on opposite sides. Intricate tile floors gleam throughout.
A stately law library occupies the west side.
Above all looms the central dome.
The view from the west façade is down to the river and across to the central business district.
The beautifully landscaped grounds surrounding the capitol complex are dotted with over 50 memorials of one kind of another.
Three of the war memorials honor those who served in the Korean War, Vietnam War, and at Pearl Harbor.
It’s lunchtime and the Lunch Box is being squeezed out of the parking lot behind the capitol building by the arriving food trucks. Time to move on!
Heading down the hill on Grand Avenue we pass through the East Village, clearly an up and coming area of trendy bars, restaurants and boutiques being revitalized with a lot of apartment/condo construction.
At the turn of the 20th Century a “City Beautiful” project was undertaken that saw a number of large public buildings constructed along the east and west banks of the river between Grand and Walnut Streets. On the east side of the river are City Hall, the new US Courthouse Annex, and the Municipal Court and Public Safety Building.
On the west bank of the river are the old US Post Office Building (now offices for Polk County) and the original public library, now an extraordinary building and our next destination, the Hall of Laureates.
Hall of Laureates
The World Food Prize is an award that recognizes the achievements of people who have advanced human development by improving the quantity, quality and/or availability of food in the world. The idea of the World Food Prize was first developed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman Borlaug, a native Iowan (1914-2009) who devoted his life to agricultural research and humanitarian. His efforts were recognized by many awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Arguable he was the most influential person in the world in creating high-yielding varieties of grains as well as modern agricultural techniques. Borlaug took his idea of a World Food Prize to the chief executive of General Foods who subsequently organized the management structure and founded the General Foods World Food Prize in 1986. The prize has been awarded annually since 1987 by the World Food Prize Foundation. Since 1990 the prize has been sponsored by Iowan businessman John Ruan.
In 2009 the World Food Prize Foundation transformed the former Des Moines Public Library into the Hall of Laureates. The very impressive structure and formal gardens occupy an entire city block on the Des Moines Riverwalk.
The actual entrance to the building is on the east side of the structure, which fronts the Riverwalk along the Des Moines River.
One enters into a grand court with a formal staircase leading to the second floor, topped with a magnificent stained glass window depicting family agriculture from ancient Greece.
The first floor has two large rooms flanking the central court. On the south is the Borlaug Ballroom.
On the north side is the Ruan Laureates Room, which highlights significant people and places in the history of agriculture in its’ paintings and fine detailing.
The Laureates Alcove in the Ruan Room honors each individual honoree since 1987.
Individuals who have been recognized come from all over the world.
On the second floor the south side is a gallery where currently a set of photographs by Howard G. Buffett are on display. The pictures from around the world focus on five main themes: landscapes, agriculture, portraits, water and social conflict.
The other side of the second floor contains a board room and the Iowa Gallery, displaying artworks by Iowa artists that celebrate the state’s agricultural and humanitarian heritage.
What a fascinating place to visit. My time in downtown Des Moines was on a Saturday morning so after leaving the Hall of Laureates I had a great time at the Farmer’s Market (along with a mob of friendly Iowans!)
The east bank of the river is green space and north of Grand on the greenway is a place that several natives recommended for a visit, the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden.
A wall of greenery leads on to the dome, which houses a tropical rain forest.
The path to the outside gardens includes a boardwalk over water gardens with impressive views of the downtown skyline.
Past the water gardens are the rest of the beautifully landscaped grounds, stretching out between the river bank to the west and a water feature to the east.
The roughly circular path returns to the main building through a small bonsai garden.
Finally we pass through a gallery displaying photographs by Radim Schreiber entitled “Firefly Experience.” These photographs were shot in the fireflies’ natural habitat, without digital manipulation ro supplement lighting. They really were extraordinary pictures.
The gallery was a welcome air-conditioned relief from the oppressive heat outdoors. It was a vintage hot and humid mid-west day. Just down the street from the Botanical Gardens is a small Asian Garden dedicated to the memory of Governor Robert Ray. Governor Ray served as the governor of Iowa from 1969 to 1983 and was a respected humanitarian. Two of his notable achievements were leading the passage of the 1976 Iowa Burials Protection Act, which was the first legislative act in the United States that specifically protected the remains of American Indians; and being the first official anywhere in the world to offer refuge to the Vietnamese “Boat People” and other refugees from Southeast Asia.
My last downtown destination was the Papa John’s Sculpture Park, located on the western edge of the city center. Rather than a ‘sculpture walk” as we’ve seen in other cities, Des Moines has a two block park on the western edge of the city center that showcases modern art. Not really my thing, but clearly a more “cosmopolitan” approach to sculpture than we saw in Mason City!
Next up: “A Man’s Got To Do What A Man’s Got To Do”
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