Des Moines Parks & Rec Developments in 2024

This article includes interviews from the following Des Moines Parks & Rec employees:

• Daniel Calvert
• Lee Wheelock

Des Moines Parks & Rec: The History and Development of Cohen Park

Cohen Park, located at 1000 Scott Ave., had its grand opening on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Named for Sam Cohen, a beloved grocery store owner in the SE Bottoms Neighborhood, the event highlighted improvements including three climbing boulders, a Sutu wall, a half basketball court, a refurbished historical fountain, historical signage and ADA parking.

Cohen Park History

Sam Cohen was born in 1910 and started working at his father's grocery store at the corner of SE 11th Street and Scott Avenue at the age of 10. Before widespread telephone availability, Sam would go door to door taking orders and delivering groceries via horse and buggy. Sam took over for his father running the grocery store in 1940 and kept up the tradition of caring for his patrons like family. Sam’s generosity was felt in churches and community centers, backyard picnics and funerals for friends and longtime patrons. Sam held an annual Halloween party for the local kids and always remembered their birthdays. Sam took excellent care of his employees and praised their role in his success. Patrons would tell Sam that he would be a wealthy man if he didn’t give so much away to people in need.

In 1961 during a store remodel, Cohens Grocery caught fire and was nearly destroyed. Before the insurance adjusters arrived, friend and competitor W.T. Dahl visited, and Sam told him he was going to have to close up shop. Dahl said, “No. You must not. If you do, this business that took 60 years to build could go down the drain. You need manpower to get fixed up, and I’ll send you some.” Sam said, “People just fell out of the sky” and the store was quickly ready for business as usual.

Sam retired in 1974 and passed in 1978; the park was named in his honor in 1981. Cohens Grocery fed the people of the SE Bottoms for 70 years. The building was demolished in 2004.

Cohen Park Development

The recent park improvement includes the addition of three climbing boulders, a combination Sutu wall, the first of its kind in Iowa, and a half basketball court and relocation of the historical Ensign fountain. Completed this spring, Cohen Park boasts three new climbing boulders especially chosen to help those looking to try bouldering for the first time and for more experienced climbers to improve their bouldering skills.  Additionally, the boulders are equipped with adaptive climbing features to help disabled climbers learn to climb. Des Moines Parks and Recreation staff have been trained to aid in the adaptive climbing experience. The third boulder was donated to the park by the Friends of Des Moines Parks.

The Sutu wall is an innovative and interactive play feature made by Yalp, a play equipment manufacturer based in the Netherlands. The Sutu contains 16 illuminated LED panels that register ball contact using vibration sensors. Therefore, Sutu is not restricted to soccer only and is usable for sports like tennis or basketball. The Sutu comes with an online app that keeps track of the games available and the times and number of games played helping the Parks and Recreation Department keep the feature interesting. Sutu brings people together and encourages them to take part in active competitions with friends onsite and throughout the world via the free integrated application that controls and provides competitive scoring, interaction, and games worldwide! All the games have different levels and are challenging for all players, from beginner to advanced. The Sutu shares a court with the basketball hoop, and this helps keep paving costs down and maximizes the options offered in this small park.

The refurbishment and relocation of the Historical Ensign Fountain was also a part of the recent park renovations.  A defining feature of Cohen Park, the historical Ensign Fountain was relocated to a more prominent location in the park. The Ensign Fountain was donated to Des Moines by Hermon Lee Ensign, a wealthy East Coast resident who passed away young and left most of his fortune to the installation of drinking fountains for horses around the United States. Two fountains were donated to the Des Moines Humane Society in 1906. The fountain was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The fountain or trough was relocated to Cohen Park in 1915. The fountain runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year, and it’s a primary source of water for many residents. The fountain was refurbished and relocated to a prominent spot in the park.

Much of the park is comprised of the previously constructed integrated park and floodwater improvements. These improvements are the outcomes of a collaboration between the Public Works Department's Water Division and the Parks and Recreation Department. The stormwater basin holds stormwater during flood conditions before it can be pumped over the levee.  This feature mitigates flood impacts to the surrounding neighborhoods and acts as a habitat for wildlife and pollinators during non-flood conditions.

The accessible parking added during the recent construction aligns with the Parks and Recreation Department's goal to make our facilities more inclusive for everyone.

These improvements continue to bolster the Department’s ParkScore calculated by the Trust for Public Land, through investments, access and amenities similar to the ones in Cohen Park, all of which demonstrate the City of Des Moines’ commitment to creating a more inclusive and vibrant city through parks, trails and recreation.

The support from generous donors at Wellmark 3-Point Play, Friends of Des Moines Parks, Two Rivers Marketing, United Way of Central Iowa, the Ted & Rowena Crosbie Foundation and others has been instrumental in bringing this vision to life, ensuring that Cohen Park remains a vibrant and inclusive space where all members of our community can come together to enjoy and connect. We can’t thank our donors enough for their support.

Des Moines Parks & Rec: Development and Planning Webpages

Want to be in the know on details surrounding the Des Moines Parks and Recreation’s most significant park and trail projects?  Our Development and Planning Division is continuously creating and updating engaging and informative project webpages specific to individual projects. The details shared on these pages go well beyond the important sound bites regularly shared on our social media channels. Our project pages are the perfect platform to provide a tailored view of how our design professionals lead projects from concept through construction, including the very important public input opportunities we offer to gain insight from residents. The maps, diagrams, photos and other graphics included help to paint vivid pictures to raise awareness and inspire support of these quality-of-life parks and recreation projects.

 

The web pages offer three categories of projects to explore – current projects, completed projects and future plans. Diving into the content of each will likely lead to learning some fun facts and we hope they inspire everyone to get out and discover all 77 parks, 90+ miles of trails, five pools and aquatic centers, eight cemeteries, three golf courses and so much more!

Highlights from the current project list include the sports court improvements and additions at Birdland Sports Park, the nearly complete Karras-Kaul Connector Trail and the much-anticipated Reichardt Community Recreation Center. The repository of completed work includes impressive documentation of projects like EMC Downtown Park, Riverview Park, MacRae Park Renovations and Evelyn K. Davis Park Improvements. Wondering what’s coming next? Click through to future plans and see a bit of what we are working towards. In all categories, the Parks and Recreation project manager and the Council Ward are listed, so if what’s posted leaves you wanting more information you’ll have a quick way to reach out.

Parks and Recreation’s mission is, “Helping Des Moines Live Well, Play Hard and Protect the Earth.” Our project webpages help communicate the many ways that we are meeting that mission and continuously raising the bar to provide an incredible level of service for all residents and visitors to the City of Des Moines.

Watch this short video to learn more about the Des Moines Parks & Rec project webpages.

Author Profiles

Daniel Calvert Daniel Calvert is the Parks and Recreation Development and Planning Administrator for Des Moines Parks & Recreation. Contact him at DJCalvert@dmgov.org for more information on the Project Webpages.

Lee Wheelock Lee Wheelock is the Deputy Senior Park Planner for Des Moines Parks & Recreation. Contact him at LAWheelock@dmgov.org for more information on the Cohen Park project.

Greater Des Moines (DSM) has one of the best business climates in the country. The region is nationally recognized for having a talented and educated workforce, a cost of doing business 13% below the national average, a low cost of living and an exceptional quality of life. In 2022, Site Selection Magazine named it a top metro for a number of economic development projects.