14-03-2025
Historic Des Moines streetcar building up for sale
DES MOINES, Iowa — At one time Des Moines had a mass-transit system of streetcars. The rails from those cars are mostly buried by time; however, one piece of streetcar lore remains near downtown.
A small two-story building called a power station was one of several that provided the electricity to run the trains. The building near downtown was constructed in 1922. It was used for storage in recent years. The man who owned it passed away and now his children are looking to sell the property.
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'As far as I know it was, it was a generating station so they had all the electrical equipment generation equipment, and then lines would come out from here to power the streetcars,' said Matt Rowe, who along with his sister, Julie, is selling the building. 'You know it is a pretty interesting building and they clearly do not build things like this anymore and so you get a historic building with this kind of structure and story that goes with it and it seems really important that I get at least preserved.'
The site is of interest from a historical standpoint to members of the Des Moines Streetcar group.
'I don't know how many of these power houses that they built were just nothing but generators and everything,' said Larry Ferguson, of the Des Moines Streetcar group. 'It provided power to the lines and there also was one on the southside, here, and there's one that was off of Merle Hay in Johnston.'
People who live in the neighborhood are hoping something is done with the building, either it's torn down, or renovated. Having an abandoned building in a family neighborhood has attracted people looking for trouble said one neighbor.
There has been some interest in purchasing the building, but nothing confirmed at this point.
For more information on the building call or text Julie at 347-556-1896.
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