Union Park is perfect for a walk, bike ride, or turn on the carousel

Posted on June 20, 2007 in Around the metro by DM

Union Park Des MoinesThere’s a nice post over at Around Des Moines this week about a walk that included downtown and Union Park on the city’s north side. Since Union Park is our neighborhood park over here by North High School, I thought I’d  post a photo of the area where my family and I take a lot of our evening walks. 

As a kid, we used to beg my mom to let us play on the Rocket Slide in the north part of the park every time we’d pass by on the way to Grandma’s.

 As an adult, I can appreciate the pastoral design, particularly of the south portion of the park. It seems quite reminiscent of the park design philosophy of Frederick Law Olmsted - recognized as the founder of American landscape architecture and the lead designer of Central Park in New York City. He favored parks designed with groves of trees and vast open green spaces.

Union Park is one of Des Moines’ oldest public parks. At one time it housed a conservatory building, and plans to replace that structure were developed in the late 1930’s. By the 1950’s, a permanent structure had not yet been built and the plans were revived to construct a conservatory and growing houses. Plans drawn up by the design firm of Brooks-Borg in Des Moines, with input from the Des Moines Garden Club and the Des Moines Founders Garden Club, fell by the wayside when residents instead approved a bond referendum for two new city swimming pools. Eventually, those plans evolved into the concept of the Des Moines Botanical Center on East Robert Ray Drive, which opened its doors in December, 1979.

Today Union Park is still home to the Rocket Slide as well as newer play equipment and a wading pool for children, and the Heritage Carousel. It’s located on Saylor Road between Jefferson and Guthrie Avenues, about 1 mile north of University and Pennsylvania Avenues (Lutheran Hospital).

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Comments

2 comments to “Union Park is perfect for a walk, bike ride, or turn on the carousel”

  1. Sandy Renshaw on June 21st, 2007 9:26 am

    Thanks for the link love. Nice site. Glad to see all the bloggers in Des Moines.

    Sandy

  2. DMweblife on June 21st, 2007 10:01 am

    Welcome, Sandy, thanks for stopping in! ~ DM

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