Des Moines Moves Ahead on Shared School Stadium
By Eric Althoff
DES MOINES, Iowa—After more than a century of sharing various facilities, Des Moines Public Schools and Drake University will be adding a new sports stadium to their collective profile. The 4,000-seat stadium will be home to the high school’s football program as well as Drake’s men’s and women’s NCAA Division I soccer teams.
At a recent groundbreaking, representatives from the two schools turned over ceremonial shovelfuls of dirt for the DMPS Community Stadium at Drake University. The stadium has been designed by RDG Planning & Design, which has an office in Des Moines, and the construction will be overseen by Story Construction of Ames, Iowa.
In addition to football and soccer, the DMPS Community Stadium will be utilized for marching band practice, rugby games and various other activities. The stadium, first proposed in November 2019, is just one part of a district-wide improvement plan for athletic facilities at all five of the high schools under its purview.
The site is now being prepped for the stadium, the structure for which is scheduled to commence next spring. RDG meantime has released renderings of how it imagines the facility will look when it comes online for the fall of 2023.
Des Moines Public Schools will contribute an estimated $16 million, with other funds coming from sales tax revenue that has been allocated for infrastructure improvements. Drake, which donated land for the stadium to the high school district, is currently undertaking a capital funding campaign to cover the remainder of the construction costs. Drake will take over as administrators of the stadium once it is complete.
“This is an exciting time for Des Moines Public Schools and Drake University to begin a new era in Des Moines athletics,” DMPS Board Chair Dwana Bradley said at the groundbreaking. “While we work on improving athletic facilities at all of our high schools, we are also creating something for our students and families to be proud of right here in the heart of our city—a first-class athletic experience equal to that in any school district in the state.”
Matt Coen, senior partner for RDG, remarked that one of the major challenges of this project was working within the constraints of an urban site that had been previously developed.
“For instance, the site required the vacation and conveyance of a city street and alley, and even with the removal of these vehicular routes, the site is extremely tight in all dimensions,” Coen said. “Though challenging, this attribute also offered a tremendous opportunity to create a vibrant, energized environment both inside and outside of the stadium.”
In addition to its architectural offices in the Hawkeye State, RDG also operates from locations in Colorado, Missouri and Nebraska.
Des Moines Public Schools is the largest PK-12 system in Iowa, operating more than 60 schools in the district. Drake University has an enrollment of 3,000 undergraduates and nearly 2,000 graduate students as well.
“This is a win for DMPS and Drake University student-athletes,” Superintendent Dr. Thomas Ahart said at the groundbreaking. “It’s a place where all DMPS student-athletes can experience the same opportunities already afforded to more affluent school districts.”