Civic Center of Greater Des Moines

The United States Post Office is an historic building located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It became a contributing property of the Civic Center Historic District when it was established in 1988. It now houses administrative offices for Polk County.

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 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 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 Plaza Building, also known as The Plaza Condominiums, is a high-rise condominium building located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The building rises 25 floors and 340 feet (104 m) in height. It is currently the 5th-tallest building in the city, but will soon be the 6th after the completion of the skyscraper, The Fifth which will only be a couple blocks away. Designed by the architectural firm of Stageberg Beyer Sachs, Inc., the building was completed in 1985. It is essentially a modernist building, but it exhibits elements of the Postmodern style. These are found in the light and dark colored banding at the base and the blue hipped and gabled roof.

The Old Downtown Des Moines Library is a historic building in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States that was built in 1903. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, and became a contributing property in the Civic Center Historic District in 1988. The building ceased to be a library in 2006 and now houses the Norman E. Borlaug | World Food Prize Hall of Laureates for the World Food Prize.

Youngerman Block is a three-story commercial building in downtown building in Des Moines, Iowa, incorporating Italianate architecture, with later alterations that introduced Art Deco detailing. Built in 1876, the Youngerman Block was designed by architect William Foster (1842-1909) for Conrad Youngerman.

The Des Moines Saddlery Company Building is an historic building located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It was built in 1881 by J. Rubelman of Muscatine, Iowa. He choose to move his operation to Des Moines because of its location on two rivers and the 13 railroads that served the city. It was one of four saddlery firms in a two block area. Rubelman's company made saddles, harnesses and leather works for 20 years. In the years since it has housed a shoe maker, rubber company, stove manufacturer, glove company, the Krispy Kone Company and the Kaplan Hat Company. The later was also the name of the restaurant that was located on the first floor. The building, which was built in four phases between c. 1878 to 1920, is the most intact example of commercial Italianate architecture extant in Des Moines. It was built to house both retail and manufacturing purposes. The building was flooded with 19 feet (6 m) of water during the Des Moines River flood of 1993. It remained empty until the Court Avenue Restaurant & Brewing Company moved in with its equipment. The Des Moines Saddlery Company Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.In 2016, the Republic of Kosovo selected the Saddlery Company Building to host a consulate office.

The Hawkeye Insurance Company Building is a historic building located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Completed in 1869, the building housed the first successful casualty insurance company in the city, which grew to be the largest center for insurance companies outside of the east coast. Prominent local architect William Foster designed the building, and it may be the oldest surviving example of his work. It is also the oldest commercial building in the downtown area that maintains its original integrity.The three-story brick commercial block was designed to be the first part of a larger complex. The Italianate style building features a bracketed cornice and tall thin hooded windows. A two-story annex was completed two years later to the north. Two more three-story sections were completed before 1883. Another prominent Des Moines architectural firm, Proudfoot, Bird and Rawson, converted the building into a hotel in 1913. The original cornice was significantly altered and the raised basement was eliminated at that time. The building was later converted into an apartment building in the 1960s. In the 1980s the cornice was restored. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

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.

The Taft–West Warehouse, also known as the C.C. Taft Company Building, Plumb Supply Company, Ben's Furniture Warehouse, and Nacho Mamma's, is a historic building located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Completed in 1923, this three-story brick structure was built during a transitional period between the dominance of railroads the emergence of trucks servicing warehouses. It was designed by local architectural firm of Vorse, Kraetsch, & Kraetsch. It features cleans lines of the Commercial style as opposed to the fussiness of late Victorian styling that was dominant in a great deal of the city's commercial architecture. The building was also located in the Court Avenue wholesale district, and now it is only one of only five or six that remain extant. The building was constructed for the C.C. Taft Company. This firm and the O.B. West Company that succeeded it in this building, dealt in wholesale fruits, vegetables, candy and tobacco. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

The Observatory Building, also known as the Van Ginkel Building, was a skyscraper located in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. Standing at 197 ft tall (60 m) and heralded as "the tallest office building between Chicago and San Francisco" when opened on April 1, 1896, it was also the first skyscraper in Iowa. Although it was the tallest office building, the Observatory Building was not the tallest building in Des Moines, the Iowa State Capitol, completed in 1884, was 275 ft tall (84 m).With a look considered modern for its time, the building consisted of nine stories of office space, a rooftop garden including a 600-seat venue for outdoor performances, and a four-story observation tower, the distinctive feature which also gave the building its name. Electricity and gas lighting was provided to all tenants. Access to the tower was provided to paying customers for what was at the time an almost unique view of the city. The installation of a beacon that would shine over the city nightly added further to the buildings uniqueness.From its incorporation in 1896 until 1905 the head office of the Central Life Assurance Society of the United States was located in the Observatory Building. This company is still based in Des Moines today and now known as The Aviva Life and Annuity CompanyThe building was eventually demolished during the latter half of 1937, and this location is now occupied by Capital Square Mall.