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Des Moines Historical Society (2021) Print
2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Public space activation
└ Public space activation
In the early to mid-1900s, the Waveland Trolley was an integral part of Des Moines' transportation system yet has long since been replaced by more modern options. The Des Moines Historical Society's Waveland Trolley Project set out to commemorate the city's rich history by transforming a long-neglected space into a walkable outdoor transit museum. The park-like setting is located on the former site of the trolley loop, where streetcars would turn around at the end of their route. The outdoor museum features benches, bike racks, panels displaying historical information and a life-sized sculpture of the Waveland Trolley.
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See More Projects Like This One
Silver City, NM
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: To attract visitors to the downtown area, this project established a game area and installed large photos depicting historic flooding in the town.
Cleveland, OH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: The May Dugan Center, which serves low-income older adults in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood, hoped to create a welcoming gathering space for its Seniors on the Move program. To make the Center's outdoor area accessible, organizers outfitted the space with four ADA-compliant picnic tables. Additionally, the Center provided program participants with herb garden kits, allowing them to create windowsill gardens in their homes. Ultimately, organizers hope experience tending the kits will help SOTM participants hone their gardening skills, which they will use to plant flower beds and raised vegetable plots at the Center. This project is part of the nonprofit's larger mission to help older adults manage their financial, physical and emotional wellbeing, allowing them to safely age in place.
West Memphis, AR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: The town of West Memphis hoped to promote community connections, cycling and walking. To achieve this, the town set up three parklets in its Main Street District, located near an expanded bike trail that links West Memphis with neighboring Memphis, Tennessee. Parklets -- mini street oases created in the footprint of a parking space -- provide places to sit, talk and gather. The West Memphis parklets each feature LED lighting and public art. Sculptures created from donated bicycles distinguish two of the parklets. The other parklet features new wooden benches and an oversized sculpture of a guitar, meant to pay homage to the town's musical heritage.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Des Moines, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Expansion and enhancement of transportation options
Description: To expand transportation options to more residents, this project created a call center. This allows older adults who don't own smartphones to access rides hailing services by phone -- something previously only possible through an app. To further help residents get around, Aging Resources provides older adults with up to eight free rides each month.
Des Moines, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
Description: After the City of Des Moines updated its zoning to allow accessory dwelling units, HOME constructed the city's first ADU as a how-to demonstration for residents interested in building their own. After working with the City's planning and zoning department, the organization built the ADU on a vacant lot in the Oak Park neighborhood. The small, detached unit demonstrates an affordable housing option with benefits for a range of residents, from those who want to downsize but remain in their neighborhood, to families who need space for an aging parent, nanny or caregiver, to those looking to earn rental income. To garner community interest, HOME offered community walk-throughs and public viewings of the ADU. More Des Moines residents now have the option to add an ADU to their property. In 2022, the city council passed a measure expanding the areas where ADUs are permitted.
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