Timeline of Des Moines, Iowa

The Iowa Events Center is a public events complex located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States.

Wells Fargo Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Part of the Iowa Events Center, the arena opened on July 12, 2005, at a cost of $117 million. Named for title sponsor Wells Fargo, the arena replaced the aging Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center as the Des Moines area's primary venue for sporting events and concerts. Wells Fargo Arena seats 15,181 people for hockey and arena football games, 16,110 for basketball games, and as many as 16,980 for concerts. It also features The Fort Restaurant, which provides views of the Des Moines River and the Iowa State Capitol. The restaurant opened on October 6, 2005, coinciding with the Iowa Stars' inaugural home game.The arena is also connected to the rest of the Iowa Events Center as well as downtown Des Moines through the city's Skywalk system.

Hy-Vee Hall is a convention center located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The convention center is a part of the Iowa Events Center.

Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center (formerly known as Veterans Memorial Auditorium) is a building located in Des Moines, Iowa, that is part of the Iowa Events Center. Named to honor the World War II veterans of Polk County, it opened on February 1, 1955. On May 22, 1956, Elvis Presley was the first major act to perform there while on tour of the upper Midwest. Elvis would perform in the auditorium twice more, on June 20, 1974, and his fourth to last concert ever on June 23, 1977.When it was home to the Drake Bulldogs university basketball team (1957–1992), it had 11,411 seats with the capacity to add an additional 4,000 for concerts and another 7,500 bleacher seats for basketball games. Commonly known as "Vets" or "The Barn," it was the long-time host for minor league basketball, arena football, Iowa high school basketball and wrestling tournaments, and high school graduations. Prior to the opening of Wells Fargo Arena, Vets Auditorium had served as the primary venue of sporting events and concerts in the Des Moines area for many years; this was also the site of the January 20, 1982 concert in which Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat. World Wrestling Entertainment also broadcast their WWE Raw program from the venue. It was also the site of the 1989 steel cage match between Hulk Hogan and Big Boss Man on Saturday Night's Main Event XXI. With the opening of Wells Fargo Arena, the auditorium was relegated to a supporting arena role. In the fall of 2010, it was closed and renovated into a state-of-the-art convention facility that added a 28,800-square-foot ballroom to the Iowa Events Center in addition to 25 new meeting rooms. At this time, the naming rights were sold to Community Choice Credit Union. However, the structure itself is still referred to as the Veterans Memorial building. Veterans Memorial Hall was also added as a part of the renovation. The Hall showcases Iowa Veterans' sacrifices since Iowa became a state.

The Des Moines Coliseum was a building located in Des Moines, Iowa. Opened in 1908, it served as the main venue for large public events in Des Moines for four decades. Herbert Hoover launched his 1932 re-election campaign from the Coliseum, and several other U.S. Presidents spoke there, including Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft. Drake University played basketball in the Coliseum for a number of years, and it was used for wrestling, boxing, ice skating, and circus events. It was destroyed by fire on August 13, 1949. A YMCA was later built on the site, but that was torn down in 2015. In 2018 the site was acquired by the GSA to become the new courthouse for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

The Iowa Commission for the Blind Building is an historic building located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. The building is a steel-framed structure covered in brick. It is a nine-story state government office building that rises 95 feet (29 m) above the ground.

The Homestead Building, also known as the Martin Hotel, is a historic building located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Designed by the Des Moines architectural firm of Smith & Gage, it was built in two stages. The eastern one-third was completed in 1893 and the western two-thirds was completed in 1905. It is one of a few late nineteenth-century commercial/industrial buildings that remain in the downtown area. The building was built for James M. Pierce for his publishing operation, which included the Iowa Homestead, a pioneer publication of modern agricultural journalism. Prior to Pierce, the Iowa Homestead publisher was Henry Wallace, the father of Agriculture Secretary Henry C. Wallace, and grandfather of U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace. "Through the efforts of Pierce and Wallace the Iowa Homestead became known for its promotion of the rotation of crops, the use of better seed, the value of more and better livestock, the importance of an attractive home and a good home life, the value of farmers banding together to protect common interests, and the care of the soil and conservation of its resources."The four-story brick commercial block has strong Richardsonian Romanesque qualities. The east and south elevations have hard, face brick in two shades of red given the two construction dates. The north and west elevations have common brick. Each series of arched windows on the third floor is accented with corbeled bands of brick and capped with a dentate cornice. There is also dentate cornice and parapet wall at the top of the east and south elevations, and a flat roof that caps the building. It was converted into a hotel in 1916, and two storefronts were added either in the 1940s or the 1950s. The original arched entrance on the east elevation was also removed. The storefronts have subsequently been removed, and the building now houses offices. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The Des Moines Grand Prix was a temporary street circuit located in Des Moines, Iowa, which hosted a round of the SCCA Trans-Am Series four times between 1988 and 1992.

The Des Moines Civic Center is a 2,744-seat performing arts center belonging to Des Moines Performing Arts located in Des Moines, Iowa. It has been Iowa's largest theater since it opened on June 10, 1979, and is used for concerts, Broadway shows, ballets, and other special events. The Civic Center building is also home to the 200-seat Stoner Theater, used for smaller theatrical shows and lectures, located on street level. Cowles Commons, formerly Nollen Plaza, is the one square block space located west of the Civic Center. Cowles Commons opened in June 2015, and hosts several events throughout the year.Together with the Stoner Theater, Cowles Commons, and the nearby Temple for Performing Arts, the Civic Center is part of the Des Moines Performing Arts.

Lauridsen Skatepark, at 88,000 square feet, is currently (as of July 2021) the largest public skatepark in the United States. Opening on 7 May 2021, it was designed by project engineer and landscape architect Tim West, alongside Shane Tully of Snyder & Associates with support from California Skateparks, Landscape Architects and Structural Engineers, Polk County Public Works and the City of Des Moines and is located along the west bank the Des Moines River, at 901 2nd Avenue in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, which is on riverfront property near Second Avenue and School Street just northeast of Wells Fargo Arena. The Lauridsen Skatepark held the only Olympic skateboarding qualifying event in North America sanctioned by World Skate for the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. The park has been used for competitions and exhibitions. Citizens have painted several murals on it since it opened. In May 2023, vandals caused thousands of dollars worth of property damage to the park's bathrooms. This prompted the facilities to close earlier. Additionally in 2023 it was proposed a neighboring dog park be converted into a much-needed parking lot.

The Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival is an annual festival in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded by members of the Iowa Bacon Board, the festival sold 200 tickets to the first festival in 2008. Today, the bacon celebration has grown to host approximately 14,000 bacon-lovers in all. Ticket holders can compete in a bacon-eating contest, listen to lectures about bacon, and sample bacon from vendors. Festival organizers have extended the celebration internationally through the Blue Ribbon Bacon Tour.

The Savery Hotel, now known as the Renaissance Des Moines Savery Hotel, is a historic building located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States. This is the third hotel in the city with that name and the second at this location. The prominent Chicago hotel design firm H.L. Stevens & Company designed the 233-room hotel in the Colonial Revival style, which was a rare choice for commercial architecture in Des Moines. The hotel is an eleven-story brick building that rises 140 feet (43 m) above the ground. Opened in 1919, it has additions completed in 1952 and 1953. Across the alley to the west is an annex that was completed c. 1899 for the previous hotel building. During World War II, Des Moines was the location for the first Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) training center. The Savery augmented the facilities at Fort Des Moines and served as the induction center, barracks, mess hall, and classrooms from 1942 to 1945.Notable guests who have stayed here include First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, President Harry S. Truman, and actress Carol Channing, who required a window she could open for fresh air before she would stay here. Entertainer Tiny Tim lived for nearly eight years at the Savery in the 1980s. The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. It was extensively renovated in 1999 and again in 2016–2017.