Mayor Frank Cownie | Mayor Frank Cownie official website
Mayor Frank Cownie | Mayor Frank Cownie official website
DES MOINES, IOWA — It doesn’t get much bigger than Memorial Day weekend for Des Moines Parks and Recreation.
"We’ve been working towards this holiday weekend for months,” Parks and Recreation Director Ben Page said. “Our team has been working meticulously to have our cemeteries, parks, trails, and aquatics features in their best condition and ready to serve our residents. This weekend is the culmination of a lot of work at all of our facilities.
"Hundreds of hours of work have gone into maintaining the city’s seven cemeteries, and over the past few weeks, volunteers have placed over 8,500 flags to mark the graves of and honor veterans buried in the seven municipal cemeteries. These cemeteries will see their largest number of visitors of the year with roughly 20,000 people visiting the cemeteries in the two-week period surrounding Memorial Day.
To accommodate the increased visitors, the seven municipal cemeteries will have extended hours this weekend, opening Saturday and Monday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Memorial Day weekend also represents the unofficial summer kickoff of other Parks and Recreation facilities with Gray’s Lake Beach and its beach concessions stand opening for the summer on Saturday, and the Nahas Aquatic Center opening for the holiday weekend as well.
Gray’s Lake will also be offering hybrid bikes, children’s bikes and even a couple of tandem bikes by the hour and half-day from the Christine Hensley Terrace Concessions during normal operating hours.
Des Moines’ 13 spraygrounds have been open since early May.
Memorial Day Openings
- Extended Cemetery Hours
- Nahas Aquatic Center (5/27 – 5/29)
- Gray’s Lake Beach and beach concession stand (Noon to 6 p.m., starting on 5/27)
Original source can be found here.
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