Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Altoona, IA, has awarded Des Moines University a $100,000 Legacy Grant to name the “Prairie Meadows Pathway,” the skywalk that will connect the Edge of Advancement Building and the Innovation Building on the University’s new campus in West Des Moines.
Prairie Meadows’ Legacy Grant program provides funding for large-scale, signature projects in central Iowa. This year, 21 charitable organizations received Legacy Grants totaling $5 million. Past projects receiving these grants in Greater Des Moines include the Principal Riverwalk, Pappajohn Sculpture Garden and the Iowa Hall of Pride.
DMU announced its plans to expand to an 88-acre parcel of land in West Des Moines in 2019 and held a groundbreaking ceremony on the site in September 2020. The University is on track to move to the new campus in 2023, in conjunction with its 125th anniversary.
Located along the West Des Moines Innovation Corridor, the site fronts Grand Avenue on the south and is bordered by Booneville Road on the north, stretching from South Jordan Creek Parkway on the east to South 88th Street on the west. For DMU, which offers 10 graduate degrees in medicine and the health sciences, the new campus represents a unique opportunity to design the medical university for the future literally from the ground up.
Prairie Meadows is among the individuals and organizations that have made gifts to name various aspects of the new campus. A variety of naming opportunities are still available, from learning studios and research laboratories to outdoor spaces and entire buildings.
Additional information, updates, renderings and videos about DMU’s new campus are available on its website.
