Just a few interesting
little tidbits...

More than 77,000 people come to work in downtown Des Moines every day.

There are 28 "grotesque faces" about the second floor windows of the Polk County Courthouse.

The bronze lantern at the Walnut Street entrance of Firstar Bank weighs half a ton.

The Statue of Liberty (from her foot to torch) would fit in the atrium of Capital Square.

The Downtown Farmers' Market showcases more than 200 vendors from all areas of Iowa and surrounding states.

Attendance of the Des Moines Arts Festival has more than doubled since its inception in 1997.

The first public school in Des Moines was built in 1856 and was located downtown at Ninth and Locust Streets.

The Botanical Center's dome is 150 feet wide and 80 feet tall and made of 665 plexiglass panels. Nearly 1,000 species of plants are represented in the collection.

The downtown skywalk system is nearly four miles long.

There are more than 3,850 parking meters on downtown streets.

Do you know something interesting about downtown? Share it with us so we may share it with the world.