Restaurant closures hit downtown Des Moines’ Western Gateway
As restaurants like Americana prepare to close, what’s ahead for downtown Des Moines’ Western Gateway?
- The “Plantoir” sculpture, a landmark in Des Moines since 2002, has been removed from its location in the Western Gateway.
- People Inc., formerly Dotdash Meredith., sold the sculpture to an undisclosed out-of-state buyer for an unrevealed price.
- The sculpture was originally purchased by Meredith Corp. to honor the company’s 100th anniversary.
And just like that it was gone.
Only scaffolding surrounds the bare spot where the famous sculpture of a giant garden trowel towered in the Western Gateway of downtown Des Moines until sometime Thursday, Sept. 11, a monument to the former Meredith Corp., which was headquartered there, and its Better Homes & Gardens magazine.
The People Inc. media conglomerate formed in the 2021 combination of Meredith and New York-based Dotdash, an online publisher, announced in late August it had sold the sculpture, “Plantoir,” designed by renowned European-American husband-and-wife artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.
The towering trowel, reputed to be the world’s largest, had been a proud landmark in Des Moines since 2002, when Meredith purchased and installed it on its corporate campus in celebration of the company’s 100th anniversary.
More: Artist Claes Oldenburg, maker of iconic downtown Des Moines umbrella sculpture, dies
At the time of the announcement, People Inc. said the sculpture had been sold to an out-of-state buyer “that made a significant offer for the piece” and that it would be moved to its new owner by the end of September. It declined to name the buyer, the buyer’s location and the price.
On Friday, People, Inc. remained mum as to where the massive artwork it had gone. A spokesperson for the company texted only that “we don’t comment on the details of the sale.”
Also unknown are the company’s plans for the tree-framed lawn between Locust Street and Grand Avenue where the sculpture stood. The Polk County Assessor’s Office values the 1.8-acre plot, zoned for commercial use, at $1.3 million.
Still no world on which local groups were invited to buy ‘Plantoir’
In its August statement the company also disclosed that prior to making the sale, the sculpture had been offered to local organizations but failed to draw a buyer who would keep it in Iowa.
The company has declined to say which local organizations had been offered the chance to make the purchase. As when the sale was announced, the Des Moines Art Center, which manages the nearby Pappajohn Sculpture Park, did not immediately respond to calls Friday. And Maartje Oldenburg, daughter of the late Claes Oldenburg and the unofficial steward of his legacy, has not responded to numerous messages from the Des Moines Register.
Made from aluminum, fiber-reinforced plastic and steel, the sculpture is more than 23 feet tall and weighs 2,300 pounds. Constructed to withstand winds up to 120 mph, it is recognized as the world’s largest garden trowel sculpture by the World Record Academy. Slightly smaller examples exist elsewhere, most notably at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The sale of the sculpture followed the July 31 announcement by the combined company, until then know as Dotdash Meredith, that it was changing its name to People Inc. in recognition of its flagship magazine title. The move erased the historic Meredith name from the Des Moines corporate community.
More: Dotdash Meredith joins ranks of other Iowa-tied companies that have changed their names
In its announcement of the sale, People Inc. said it remained committed Des Moines, and noted that it is renovating its historic 1716 Locust St. building, part of the former headquarters of Meredith. It previously sold off another building on the campus to Mid-American Energy.
While Plantoir may be on its way to its next destination, Des Moines can still stake claim to another Oldbenburg and van Bruggen work. The couple designed “Crusoe Umbrella,” the giant umbrella sculpture installed on Cowles Commons in 1979.
Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.