DES MOINES, Iowa — MacRae Park saw improvements made back in 2022, with the goal to freshen up a unique park on the city’s south side. The final piece of the project was approved in a city council vote on Monday evening.

“We looked at MacRae Park, well over a 100-year-old park, and it’s showing its age. So we went to the community and said hey we got one chance to do this right, let’s give it a next lease on life for another 100 years,” said Ben Page, the director of Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department.

Page said the light proposals were included in the renovations completed in 2022, but the money ended up running thin at the end of the project. So, the lighting was put off for a couple years until there was funding found for it.

“We had to wait and we started writing some grants and use some city funding, and we got a Prairie Meadows grant here tonight that we’re going to ask the council to accept,” said Page. “If they do so, that will light up that part of the park, which will further engage more, you know, early hours, evening hours of the park.”

The park will have extended hours when the lights are finished, which Page expects to be later this summer. Completing this park also frees up resources to look at future renovations to other city parks.

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