Page 106 - Reflect DSM (City of Des Moines, IA)

City Departments
Understanding the existing role of city departments in efforts to promote historic preservation and to use
preservation as a tool to promote their own goals and policies is crucial to analyzing the successes of and
challenges facing the existing program. Over the course of the two in-person trips, the consultant team met
with the following city departments:
• Parks and Recreation Department
• Equity Office
• City Facilities
• Sustainability Office
• Development Services Department
• Neighborhood Services Department

Each meeting began with a brief introduction to the project, followed by an opportunity for the staff
individuals or group to explain their existing work and how they interface, or do not interface, with historic
preservation objectives. Staff provided crucial information and important insights in each meeting including
information regarding:
• Use of the Equity Toolkit and important questions to ask during this process
• Historic structures and infrastructure in the City’s parks and along its trails, such as park shelters
• Cultural events and festivals throughout the City
• Fort Des Moines’ story and development history
• Simultaneous efforts to develop a climate action plan
• Understanding the recently adopted Form Based Code
• Existing funding programs available to neighborhoods and commercial buildings, some focused on
designated historic buildings and others available regardless of building age or designation with the
sole purpose of keeping a building in good condition

In addition to learning about the programs and procedures currently used by different city departments, a
key aspect to this project is an equity audit. This audit focuses on existing historic preservation programs
and tools used by the city including the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) process and designation
process. The audit consists of a series of thought-provoking questions which will initially be answered by
city staff, and developed into a more thorough report by the consultant team. Ultimately, the audit will
provide crucial input to determining the inequities that may currently exist in the city’s historic preservation
program, and will help lead to identifying solutions to ensuring these inequities do not persist. Once the
equity audit and report is completed by staff and the consultant team, it will be presented to the Advisory
Committee.

Individual Appointed Officials and Stakeholders
In addition to meeting with the Advisory Committee, city, departments, and the broader public, the
consultant team also met with a handful of stakeholder groups including the Black Liberation Movement
and the Des Moines Heritage Trust, to understand the work they do and the potential interface with this Plan
project. The project team also met with community members that have lived in Des Moines for decades and
have an intimate knowledge of the community’s history.

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100 DES MOINES Citywide Historic Preservation Plan