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Municipal Court and Public Safety Building

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1920; Keffer and Jones; Kraetsch and Kraetsch; Sayer and Watrous. Southeast corner of E. 1st St. and E. Court Ave.

Although this three-story Bedford limestone building is shaped like a rectangular box, its detailing is far more three dimensional than the adjacent United States Courthouse. The building's Beaux-Arts design includes a series of central recessed porches with heavy Doric columns and a wide cornice that provides an effective, deeply shadow termination to the design. An unusual feature of the building is the way in which the second-floor windows have been placed within a projecting picture frame, the upper portions of which exhibit a winged medallion.

Writing Credits

Author: 
David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim
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Data

What's Nearby

Court Avenue Bridge
United States Courthouse
Polk County Office Building
United States Post Office Building (now Polk County Heritage Gallery)
Des Moines Municipal Building

Citation

David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, "Municipal Court and Public Safety Building", [Des Moines, Iowa], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IA-01-CE136.

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