World Food Prize Hall of Laureates (Des Moines Public Library)

100 Locust Street

Built 1898-1903

Designed by Smith and Gutterson

Beaux-Art style

NRHP 1974

Voted 1 of the top 50 buildings of the twentieth century

Made of Minnesota Kettle River pink sandstone veneer on load bearing brick masonry

First building completed in the Civic Core plan.

The design was supposedly patterned after the art museum in Nancy, France.

In 1985 the building was remodeled and restored by Wagner, Marquardt, Wetherell and Ericsson Architects, and Sven Paulsen, craftsman.

The WPA murals inside are titled, “Boys and Girls” and “A Social History of Iowa,” produced by Harry Donald Jones and others (1937-1941).

2009 restoration by Gensler and RDG Planning & Design

The new owners occupied the building beginning in October 2011.

Of the projected uses of the building:

• The Hall of Laureates will serve as a museum to recognize great achievements in agriculture.

• Convocation center at which to hold the World Food Prize International Symposium – the Borlaug Dialogue
• Home for the expanded Global Youth Institute
• Educational facility featuring interactive displays on hunger and food security

The conference center and community hall will be made available to other groups and organizations for their meetings and events.

The cost of the project was estimated at $29.8 M.

WFP is the first building in Iowa on the NRHP that was certified LEED Platinum. Green features include 90 of the highest efficiency solar panels, 102 geothermal wells and an 8,000 gallon cistern the water tank is located under the new east grand staircase. The harvesting matching stone from an abandoned railroad bridge because the original quarry is now a state park.