Posted on Jan 20, 2004

City of Des Moines Beach Park 2004 Master Plan The Des Moines Beach Park is located in a secluded ravine that opens westward onto a Puget Sound beach.  Its steep, heavily vegetated north and south flanks and the Des Moines creek that winds along the south bank define the site.  For the City if Des Moines, this park site is an invaluable recreation, educational and open space resources. The City of Des Moines acquired the Park from the Covenant Church in 1987 and commissioned a master plan for the park in the same year. The initial master plan made recommendation in multiple phases.  The first phases were implemented in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the emerging requirements to consolidate services to senior citizens groups and budget constraints conspired to delay further implementation of the latter portions of the plan. The Problem Faced with major renovations to several of the structures at the site due to earthquake and flood damage, the city was forced to move The Senior Services Center to a temporary facility.  The cost to renovate the damaged facilities was extensive and the city wanted to be sure that they spent their money where it would have the greatest value to the taxpayer.  Turning to their 16 year old master plan, they determined that they needed a new look at the vision for the park facility and sought out Project Management Northwest for a low cost update to the plan. PMNW Approach The Project Management Northwest Master Planning process takes into consideration two equally important aspects of the Des Moines Beach Park: Understanding the nature, history and constraints of the facility and the surrounding community and the long term desires of the residents of the City of Des Moines.   The success of the plan depends on a balance of those elements. Our approach to developing the master plan is being worked in three phases.  The first element is to document existing conditions, utilizing data documented in the 1987 Master Plan and The 1989 Historical Evaluation completed by the Portico Group and Structural Evaluations of the Dining Hall completed by Reid Middleton in 2002 (excerpt of those reports will be included in the final document) and finding from new engineering investigations.  The second phase of the project entails extensive interviews with The Des Moines city council, city employees, user groups and citizen advisors to define a future desired state for the facility.  The final phase will develop options to use the existing and new facilities to satisfy the future requirements.  The Product The Project Management Northwest delivery to the City of Des Moines will be an updated master plan that will include: a renewed version of the Historical Evaluation provided by the Portico Group in 1989, an evaluation of the existing conditions that will include: excerpts from the original Master Plan created by the Portico Group in 1987 new engineering analysis provided by Project Management Northwest and our associate partners A comprehensive vision statement derived from interviews of City Officials, Park Employees, User Groups and Community Forums. Options to satisfy the vision statement by utilizing Existing Facilities Constructing new facilities Combination of above A recommended course of action Funding requirements and plan Vital Statistics Client                        The City of Des Moines                                   Parks, Recreation                                    and Senior Service Department  Project Lead              Gary Towe                                   PMNW Principal Requirements Team      Jeff Hobbs                                   PMNW Principal                                   Cherie Maxwell                                   PMNW Associate Engineering Team    Chris Rustik (Leader)                                   Mechanical                                   PMNW Principal                                   Bob Mantz                                   Civil/Structural                                   PMNW Associate Partner                                   Shawn Patrick                                   Electrical                                   PMNW Associate Partner                                   Nardy Pitsme                                   Architect                                   PMNW Associate Partner Project Value            $15,000 Schedule