Parks Area Foundation
PAF Officers
Ken Boatwright, President
Mike Raye, Past President
John Morrissey, Vice President
Jo Harvey, Secretary
Tom Culver, Treasurer
and Board
Larry Arnold
2011
Phyllis Wheeler 2011
Pic to come
Dan Garwood 2010
Bill Wheeler
2011
Skip Garton
2010
Mike McBroom 2009
Alberta Finley
2011
Steve Peglow
2011
HP Community Action Association
Linda's Street Party 2006 Cars
Intro ... Our (HPBC) charter with the State of Iowa precludes the HPBC from accumulating significant amounts of money without incurring heavy tax penalties. So ... Our HP merchants and neighbors organized the Parks Area Foundation to take on projects with larger financial responsibilities.
Cooperative Efforts of:
Highland Park Community Action Association
Oak Park Neighbors Association
Economic Development and Beautification
We want
successful and better-looking businesses in the Parks Area. We prefer to
grow our own but we also welcome newcomers to the area. The affordability of the
area encourages new businesses. Improving and increasing our existing
businesses makes our area more attractive to our current customers and
attracts new customers to shop and live in the area. We will work on
several projects to encourage foot-traffic in the Parks Area. (Our
just completed Sixth and Euclid Streetscape is the current jewel in our
crown.)
Promotion and
Fund Raising
We
plan to educate our many publics (business owners, educators, government
bodies, and residents) about the many opportunities available to them in
the Parks Area. We intend to educate our area first, then expand to other
parts of the city. We will provide information about the Parks Area to all
interested parties. (We promote our area
via newspaper ads, our newsletter, and now, this web site. Our
Sweet Corn Day is our most successful fund raiser to date.)
Finance
No
successful organization progresses without financial resources. We will
raise starter funds from local businesses as seed money and use it to
qualify for economic improvement and historic grants. We wish to express
our appreciation to the Highland Park Community Action Association for
providing our initial seed money. We accept donations from individual
residents as well as businesses.
Historic District
Much
of our Parks Area has been recognized as an Historical District. Our
Parks Area Foundation paid for these signs.
Many Parks Area buildings are eligible for
the Federal Historic Register. Historian Jim
Jacobsen’s History of Highland Park,
Oak Park, and the Parks District
publication contains many of our historic highlights.
Jim Jacobsen provides periodic guided tours pointing out the origins and uses of our area’s various architectural works. You can attend one on the first Saturday in August.
PAF board meeting with City
Councilman Bob Mahaffey 11.09.04.
PAF
board meeting 01.10.05.
PAF board
meeting 06.14.06.
PAF board
meeting 07.10.06.
PAF board meeting 04.11.07 -- buying the Aqualand building.
PAF Annual Meeting March 23, 2009.
Your Parks Area Foundation will seek to increase the public’s knowledge of the historic roots of the Parks Area and its unique place in the growth of Des Moines. (Our markers and murals also call attention to our historical heritage.)
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