Des Moines — DRIVERS entering this capital city from the west once sped past a motley collection of worn-out buildings, including auto repair shops, vacant storefronts and a pornographic bookstore. But in recent years that vista has been replaced by verdant open space, benches and walkways — and, as of this fall, a sculpture park with works by Willem de Kooning, Louise Bourgeois and Sol Lewitt, among others.
Perhaps the most arresting piece is "Nomade," by the Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa, a 27-foot-tall hollow human form made of a latticework of white steel letters, which looms over Locust Street, the one-way eastbound thoroughfare through Des Moines's compact business district.
Along Grand Avenue, Locust Street's westbound companion, primitive-looking heads by the Swiss sculptor Ugo Rondinone — one menacing, the other wary — are reminiscent of the ancient statues of Easter Island.
The park is named for John and Mary Pappajohn, a Des Moines venture capitalist and his wife, who have given the 24 sculptures — valued at some $40 million — to the community through the Des Moines Art Center. The enterprise is a collaboration among the Pappajohns, other private donors, the city and the center, a contemporary-art museum west of downtown.
It is the latest major project in a broad redevelopment, started in 1991, of Des Moines's downtown, which used to bustle during weekdays with insurance and government workers but fell quiet soon after 5 p.m. That has been gradually changing over the past few years, especially with the opening of a new public library, a science center and an events center, as well as a burst of commercial and residential development.
While the recession has slowed the makeover, the sculpture park is providing a cheerful, even optimistic, counterpoint to the economic gloom, as well as to the destruction across Iowa by floods and tornadoes in 2008.
The 4.4-acre site, once two dreary blocks, was briefly an open park sometimes used for outdoor gatherings. In 2007 the Pappajohns decided it would make a fine place for their sculptures.
Community leaders raised $6.5 million to create the park and finance an endowment for security and upkeep. Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas, architects based in New York, designed an undulating lawn with grassy mounds and crescent-shaped cutaways to display sculptures by artistic style.
For locals, many of the sculptures are old friends relocated from the lawn of the Pappajohns' Des Moines home. Others were acquired or commissioned specifically for the park, including "Nomade" and one of two graceful bronze horses by Deborah Butterfield.
With no admission charge, gate or fence, and operating hours that stretch from 6 a.m. to midnight, the park is admirably accessible, bordering on vulnerable. Some enthusiastic visitors haven't been able to resist touching (discouraged) or even climbing (forbidden.) There is also concern about graffiti and skateboarders. But the park has around-the-clock security, including foot patrols, cameras, motion sensors and speakers.
On a beautiful fall weekday the park's curving paths and thick grass accommodated office workers, families, joggers, a vanload of disabled people and several busloads of school children.
People wandered, pondering abstract pieces like Mark di Suvero's "T8," made of red steel construction beams, and Richard Serra's "Five Plate Pentagon," five sheets of rusted brown steel balanced upright against one another — as well as figurative works like Ms. Bourgeois's spindly spider and Anthony Caro's voluptuous nude.
Nearby, lunch crowds gathered at restaurants like the Mediterranean-influenced Proof, which opened in 2008.
The park was emptier on a balmy weekend night, as dark expanses were relieved by softly illuminated clusters of sculptures. Teenagers took cellphone photos inside "Nomade." Around the park, drivers in souped-up cars, pickups and motorcycles "scooped the loop": the local tradition of cruising repeatedly around the downtown circuit.
Across Locust Street, dancers shimmied behind the full-length windows of the Des Moines Social Club, a fashionably scruffy events space recently opened by a young former New Yorker. Nearby, other new restaurants like the lively brasserie Django are attracting weekend diners.
More fruits of the city's redevelopment can be found east of the sculpture park — past the dense assortment of office buildings, many linked by sky walks, in the downtown core — along the Des Moines River, where a 1.2-mile loop called the Principal Riverwalk, with gardens, pedestrian bridges and more sculpture, is being built. Several components of the walk (named after the local company that is a major financer of it) have been completed, including an outdoor ice skating rink that is drawing crowds on weekends.
Just beyond the walk is the East Village, another once-neglected downtown area, near the golden-domed state capitol, which is drawing young residents and new restaurants, like the sushi hot spot Miyabi 9 and Alba, which serves contemporary American food. There are also small independent shops like Sticks, a crafts gallery with locally made wood furniture, and Smash, which sells cheeky, Iowacentric T-shirts, including one that sums up the mood around here: "Des Moines: Greatest City in the World."
IF YOU GO
WHERE TO STAY
The Suites of 800 Locust Street, (800 Locust Street; 515-288-5800, 800locust.com) a luxury hotel near the sculpture park, has standard rooms for $209.
Renaissance Savery Hotel (401 Locust Street; 515-244-2151, marriott.com/hotels/travel/dsmbr-renaissance-savery-hotel/) is a recently renovated 1919 hotel with standard rooms from $159 to $199
WHERE TO EAT
Proof (1301 Locust Street; 515-244-0655, proofrestaurant.com) is open weekdays for lunch; on Friday only for dinner ($25 prix fixe menu only.) Dishes include Moroccan chicken sandwich ($9) Greek salad ($8) and shrimp paella ($10).
Django (210 10th Street; 515-288-0268, djangodesmoines.com) is open weekdays for lunch and dinner; on weekends for dinner. Dinner entrees include steak frites ($18 to $28) and other French classics like cassoulet ($21).
Miyabi 9 (512 East Grand Avenue; 515-288-8885) is open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. Dinner entrees include a 25-piece sushi platter ($24.95).
Alba (524 East Sixth Street; 515-244-0261) is open Tuesday to Friday for lunch and dinner; on Saturday for dinner. Seasonal dinner entrees include pork with chorizo and sweet corn ($21).
THINGS TO DO
The John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park (between Locust Street and Grand Avenue, 13th and 15th Streets; 515-277-4405, desmoinesartcenter.org/downtown/index.html) is open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight. Admission is free. A free audio podcast walking tour featuring the Pappajohns and several sculptors is at desmoinesregister.com/assets/mp3/pappajohn/WalkingTour.mp3
The Des Moines Social Club (1408 Locust Street; 877-201-3361, desmoinessocialclub.org) is open daily, and has a theater, bar and gallery.
Brenton Skating Plaza (520 Robert D. Ray Drive; 515-284-1000, brentonplaza.com) is open daily from mid-November through March. Cost Monday through Thursday is $3 for adults; $2 for children; Friday through Sunday and holidays is $4.50 for adults and $3.50 for children; Skate rental is $2.50.
East Village (downtown east of the Des Moines River, eastvillagedesmoines.com.) Most shops are open Monday through Saturday including Sticks (521 East Locust Street, 515-282-0844; sticks.com) and Smash (400 East Locust Street, Suite 12; (515) 288-1323; thesmashsite.com)
Des Moines Art Center, (4700 Grand Avenue; 515-277-4405; desmoinesartcenter.org) With wings designed by Eliel Saarinen, I. M. Pei and Richard Meier. Open daily except Monday. Admission is free.
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