EMC Downtown Park

On March 29, 2014, a fire caused the top floors of the Younker Brothers Department Store to burn down. It caused damage to the skywalk and nearby buildings.^[3] It sat as a vacant lot until 2018, when EMC Insurance acquired the lot. Instead of building office space, the company decided to partner with the city of Des Moines to build a park instead, and proposed an agreement to keep the green space for at least 10 years.^[4]

The park started construction in 2021, mainly focused for the residents living in downtown.^[5] On June 1, 2023, the park opened and currently serves 2,400 residents within a 10-minute walk, helping the cities goal to have a park within 10 minutes of every citizen.^[6] The park includes A half-court basketball court, a pickleball court, playground equipment, a ping-pong table, bags game, and table games (chess/checkers).^[7]

List of parks in Polk County, Iowa

Downtown Des Moines