Let's Catch Up! July '25
- Carl Voss
- Jul 22
- 8 min read
ANOTHER GREAT SUMMER IN 5 CITY PARKS
Mayor If you want to see firsthand what success looks like, look no further than the free summer camps operating at five city parks.
This is the fourth summer that Des Moines Parks & Recreation has offered free day camps, maxed out at 50 kids per site (Columbus, Drake, Evelyn K. Davis, MLK Jr., and Weeks Middle School Park).
“This year, we opened registration on April 1,” Parks and Recreation Supervisor Amarre Negussie told me. “By April 3, we were completely full. We have waiting lists ranging from 40 to 150 children, depending on the location.”
Campers get free trips to the Blank Park Zoo, Botanical Gardens, and Blank Golf Course mini golf, Amarre told me: “We have a long list of supporters.”
They also get lunches and snacks from Central Iowa Shelter and Services; Parks and Rec provides breakfast. “No one goes hungry!” Amarre said.
“Plus,” he said, “60 percent of our staff return each year, which is really great!”
How does this free program translate to family savings?
“To put this into perspective,” Amarre told me, “the average cost of summer camp typically ranges from $150 to $200 per child per week. Over an eight-week summer, that’s $1,200 to $1,600 per child. Offering these camps for free results in an estimated $600,000 to $800,000 in total savings for Des Moines families.
“In addition,” he said, “the average cost of full-time day care in Iowa is $175 to $225 per week, or $1,400 to $1,800 per summer—another cost that many families are spared, thanks to this program.”
CITIZENSHIP, THEN FIRST PITCH
Franco Caramelino, left, receives the ceremonial first-pitch ball from Iowa Cubs intern Randy Wehofer before a game July 3 at Principal Park. It was a memorable evening for the native Argentinian, who arrived in the U.S. in 2018 and graduated from Simpson College in 2022. Minutes before delivering the first pitch, he was one of 22 new U.S. citizens sworn in by U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher. More than 500 new citizens have been naturalized since the first on-field event held September 4, 2009. During the last six years, more than 4,000 new citizens have been sworn in at Principal Park on non-game-day ceremonies.
OVERFLOW TRIO OPENS BLOCK PARTY
April Wells, Charmaine Alexander, and Julie Bell, performing as Overflow, delivered “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (often known as the “Black National Anthem”) during opening ceremonies July 12 at Creative Vision’s Fourth Annual Peace in Our Streets block party. The event on 13th Street unites the community “in solidarity against gun violence.”
NOT YOUR ORDINARY VENDING MACHINE
You won’t find a Diet Coke or other sodas at this vending machine in the Polk County Health Department! What you will find is free Naloxone (Narcan), which rapidly reverses an opioid overdose; as well as birth control pills, condoms, needle cleaning kits, hygiene kits, sharps disposal containers, and gun locks. The machine, at 1907 Carpenter Avenue (south side of the building and across from Miller Hardware), is open 24/7. No registration is required.
“Some of the items are more sensitive health products,” reported Allison Smith, executive director of the Family Planning Council of Iowa, a project partner. “The vending machine enables people to access potentially life-saving supplies more privately.”
HABITAT-READY HOMEOWNERS
November can’t come soon enough for Kristina and Ray Fitzgerald. That’s when the couple and their daughters, Emma, left, and Kylie, are scheduled to move into their new Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity home on Carter Court off East 46th Street on the east edge of Des Moines.
This move is a big, long-awaited step-up for Kristina and Ray, who have lived in a 500-square-foot mobile home on the south side for 12 years. Also, Ray’s daily commute of 30 minutes to the Amazon warehouse in Bondurant shrinks to 10 minutes.
The couple needs to wrap up their 200 partnership hours (formerly known as community service hours) before moving into the Carter neighborhood. “We’ll be working at the ReStore location on Euclid to finish up,” Kristina told me.
Habitat volunteers and staff have finished 15 homes in the Carter Court development; 10 families have moved in. Each house, built on a slab, is about 1,200 square feet, with an attached one-car garage.
The home and similar homes in Carter Court appraise at $269,000. The Habitat mortgage is based on 30 percent of the homebuyer's income; the average Habitat mortgage is around $178,000. Donations, volunteers, and grants, including the Community Building Block Grant through the City, cover the difference between the cost to build and the Habitat mortgage.
RIBBON-CUTTING—WITH PIE!
Bike World owner Forrest Ridgway savors a rhubarb hand pie during the ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 20 for the new Karras-Kaul Connector Trail. The three-mile trail linking Des Moines and Carlisle is the long-awaited final link of 83 miles of hard-surface trails connecting Indianola and Jefferson. The trail honors RAGBRAI founders and Des Moines Register writers John Karras and Donald Kaul.
‘GORGEOUS’ RATING FOR STONE PARK PICKLEBALL
Sherry Clingman, left, and Golda Curry were on hand June 25 to help dedicate improvements to Stone Park on Southeast 5th Street. The $2.2 million improvements ($900,000 in donations) included four dedicated pickleball courts, a sprayground, a playground, a futsal court, and a new shelter, as well as refurbished basketball courts and lighting, and community gardens. Sherry and Golda, members of the Des Moines Metro Pickleball Club (400+ members), rated this pickleball-only facility as “gorgeous.”
“They thought of everything,” Golda told me.
The Dan and Mary Kelly Family Foundation funded the pickleball courts.
SUMMER JOY AT BURKE PARK
Za’Kai Taylor’s face says it all: The new sprayground at Burke Park is perfect!
Za’Kai and his parents were on hand for the June 11 celebration of nearly $500,000 in playground improvements to the park, located south of Iowa Lutheran Hospital and north of Carver Elementary School on East University Avenue. The event, organized by the Capitol Park Neighborhood Association, included a showing of Rio, a popular cartoon animation movie, on the Park and Recreation Department’s ginormous 17x10-foot LED video screen. Other park improvements include a playground and a multi-use court.
Two other City parks—Chesterfield and the Western Gateway Park—also benefited from new spraygrounds within the past year. This construction season, wading pools at Sayers and Jordan parks will be removed and replaced with spraygrounds. That leaves just one City park with a wading pool: Ashfield Park is up next.
COOKOUT CELEBRATES MENTAL HEALTH TEAM
In mid-June, City Manager Scott Sanders, Mayor Connie Boesen, and City Council members hosted an interactive BW Outdoors cookout at Columbus Park south of downtown to celebrate our three teams working on the mental health response. For most City Council members, it was the first time meeting of the front-line mental health workers.
Among the 25 guests were members of the Des Moines police’s Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT), Broadlawns Medical Center’s Crisis Advocacy Response (CARE) team, and the Des Moines fire department’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare team.
Riley Fisher, a member of Broadlawns’ CARE team, told me a fabulous success story about assisting police with an elderly Canadian woman in the midst of a mental health crisis.
“When we [Riley and her partner, Alex] arrived on scene, it was clear she was experiencing active psychosis,” Riley told me. “She was disoriented, alone, and far from home, with no immediate support system.” After the police ensured all those involved were safe, Riley said, she and Alex engaged with the woman, building rapport and assessing her needs. “Together,” Riley recalled, “we coordinated her safe transport to the hospital so she could receive urgent psychiatric and potential medical care.”
During this time, Riley added, the patient expressed deep concern for her pets, who would have been left behind without care. Recognizing how important they were to her mental and emotional well-being, as well as their immediate need for veterinary care, the pair reached out to the Animal Rescue League. “Their team responded quickly, reassured our client, and stepped in to provide veterinary care and safe shelter for her animals,” Riley recounted.
While in the hospital, Riley continued, hospital staff reached out to the Canadian consulate and her family. Riley said they confirmed her identity, secured travel arrangements, and reunited her with her loved ones in Canada.
“This case stands out,” Riley told me, “as a powerful example of what’s possible when community partners work together—law enforcement, crisis services, animal welfare organizations, and international agencies—coming together to support someone in a moment of deep vulnerability. Thanks to this collaboration, we helped one woman find safety, healing, and her way back home.”
In 2024, 44.9 percent of the mental health calls required no police involvement. Here are the raw 2024 numbers, averaging 24.4 calls daily:
CARE in the field (no police officer): 1,468
CARE via telecommunications: 2,454
Total CARE-only calls: 3,922
MCRT and CARE: 4,969
2024 total: 8,891
PERFECT SUNDAY FOR NORTHSIDE MARKET
Vendor tents lined two blocks of Sixth Avenue north of Euclid Avenue for the Northside Market on July 13. The fourth annual festive event attracted more than 70 local vendors selling handmade crafts, vintage clothing, and food.
CLASSY ENGAGEMENT; SHE SAYS YES!
Drake Rupprecht proposes to Sophia Chiodo during a surprise stop on the historic 1898 Fifth Street Bridge across the Raccoon River on June 14. Sophia thought the two were walking to Mullet’s, but Drake had other plans. Drake was well-prepared with flowers, Champagne, a background quilt, and, of course, an engagement ring.
LAOTIAN NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
The Wat Lao Buddhavath of Iowa welcomed Midwesterners of Laotian descent to its annual Lao New Year (Pi Mai) celebration on June 21 on East Park Avenue. Vanneda Sensouk, left, attired as Nang Sangkhan (Miss Lao New Year), leads a procession of seven young women representing the daughters of mythical King Kabinlaphom. Seven Buddhist monks were in attendance to bless families and partake in the three-day ceremonies.
EAST VILLAGE LAMPPOSTS GET FACELIFT
A crew from Aerial Painting Inc. of St. Paul, Minnesota, has spent the last couple of weeks priming and repainting the 60 vintage light posts, featuring their signature hanging baskets, that line East Locust Street in the Historic East Village.
Next step: replacing the light fixtures and metal halide bulbs (similar to mercury vapor bulbs) with energy-efficient LED bulbs and UV-stabilized polymer replacement fixture globes.
Initially, the City planned to replace all the light posts installed in 2002 with standard MidAmerican light posts, with an estimated cost of $1 million. Whoa! That plan got an immediate thumbs down from East Village residents, who have grown fond of the old-timey posts.
Enter local lighting engineer Mike Lambert, who figured out a way to replace the lamp fixtures, bulbs, and glass domes with a savings of about $2,000 per lamp (two lamps per post). Mike recommended LED bulbs with variable wattage, allowing the City to stock one bulb that emits the equivalent of 150 watts over the street and 70 watts over the sidewalk. The total ticket for repainting the posts and Mike’s light scheme came in at $245,900—a savings of $745,010 over the original plan.
“These are the most affordable fixtures and the easiest to install, update, and maintain,” Mike told me. “And all this for a 60 percent energy savings and a light-level increase of approximately 20 percent. The City is getting a heck of a deal.
”The City team was great. I love working with Dave Kamp and Steve Naber in Engineering.”
And thank you, Mike, for helping the City save a bundle of bucks!
Next year, the City plans to reduce tripping hazards on East Locust sidewalks by installing new concrete.
ABOVE GROUND (FINALLY)
Sidewalk superintendents finally have something above ground to watch at the construction site of The Aston apartment-commercial complex being built at East Sixth Avenue and Des Moines Street. After toiling the winter and spring to complete 2½ below-grade parking levels, workers are beginning to assemble the lower floors of the seven-story building (eight stories at the corners), which will feature 161 residential units when completed.
The construction calls for insulated concrete forms that vaguely resemble Lego bricks, reinforced on the inside with steel bars and then filled with concrete. The construction technique closely resembles The Tempo, Heart of America’s first East Village residential project at East Sixth and Walnut.
The Des Moines-based developer, Heart of America Group, says it expects to begin leasing the nearly $50 million Aston in late 2026.
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