The old Camp Dodge pool was absolutely massive. I want to say it was closed around 2000 or 2001?
Urban Exploration: Des Moines Edition
- Thread starter Farnsworth
- Start date
I remember swimming in that bad boy in like 1997 at STARBASE leadership camp in 5th grade.
I think a couple are still open but no idea which ones or how easy it would be to find- I’ve never tried exploring them. Found another map/site that looks like it might mark the entrances though (no idea if it is reliable):
Koordinates
koordinates.com
There is supposedly a tunnel that goes down there or something like that in the high school in Urbandale. Never saw it or anything and frankly don’t believe people that it was anything other than a basement storage area.Have you ever heard about the coal mines around the Des Moines area? It might sound weird but there were coaling operations around the state through its early years and well into the 20th century.
There was actually a good size tree in someone’s front yard that fell into one on the south side a few years ago.
You can find a map of them here:
State of Iowa - Iowa Coal Mines
programs.iowadnr.gov
Also, random but timely, Beggar’s Night began in Des Moines around WWII. The City came up with the idea to reduce vandalism and mischief from younger, restless kids in the area. It was decided to have a specific night, not Halloween, that the kids could go out door to door and perform “Tricks for eats,” to earn small treats or food, in hopes that the activities would deter the issues and complaints.
To earn the treats, they would have to tell a joke or perform a trick, etc. Much different from the nationwide “Trick or Treat” which implies you need to give kids food to prevent having tricks/pranks played on you back then.
Always fun to see new people move to the area and wonder what is going on with the joke telling.
To earn the treats, they would have to tell a joke or perform a trick, etc. Much different from the nationwide “Trick or Treat” which implies you need to give kids food to prevent having tricks/pranks played on you back then.
Always fun to see new people move to the area and wonder what is going on with the joke telling.
I'm surprised that Merle Hay is doing better when if you drive down Merle Hay road and even Douglas a few blocks in either direction there are a lot of empty buildings lately as that whole area has suffered to keep stuff open even pre-pandemic. The new Bucs Hockey arena at Merle Hay will be a big boost for them too.
Before Jordan Creek opened Valley West used to be the Mall to go to in town. They are hurt now that they are land locked so they really have no place to expand to keep up with the times. When Von Maur leaves both ends of the mall now will have giant anchor stores vacant and JC Penney isn't exactly in stable financial standing themselves despite trying to restructure right now so can't count on them to be around forever either. They are going to have to come up with a way to reinvent themselves somehow either by tearing down part of the structure to build something new that will draw people or just close down entirely and redevelop the land there.
This is already in the plans.
West Des Moines reveals multimillion-dollar plan to revitalize Valley West Mall
West Des Moines officials have unveiled a plan to redevelop the Valley West Mall area.
www.kcci.com
One of the differences between Merle Hay and Valley West is the adjacency of population. There are a lot more people around Merle Hay than Valley West. Valley West has the same problems that South Ridge did. Though its good they've recognized it and have a plan to revitalize the areas.
Merle Hay Mall is interesting because it was one of the first malls built prior to a lot of the development styles that came about in the 70's. The evolution of Merle Hay Mall is pretty interesting, it started out as an open air retail plaza before being enclosed.
Speaking of Merle Hay Mall, they had a large fire there in the 70’s. My grandma actually worked at the Younkers at the time and has some vague memories about it.
