Riviera Stage, Des Moines, Iowa

by Rosa Soto | 15 February 2022 12:00 am

Elements of Riviera Stage bring to mind a ballroom and attractions at Riverview Park, an amusement park that operated from 1915 to 1978. The form of the stage’s steel barrel trusses, open sidewalls and seating areas evoke the ballroom’s original structure. The trusses are reminiscent of roller coasters, as well.

When it was an amusement park, Riverview Park, which is being renovated by the city as a public park with the new stage and other amenities, included the Riviera Ballroom, a nationally known venue. There was a steel coaster named the Wild Mouse, wooden roller coaster named Coaster, carnival rides and other attractions. The Riviera Stage was built on the site of the amusement park.

Brent Schipper, AIA, LEED AP, IIDA, principal at ASK Studio, says, “Riviera Stage is the celebration of a city’s history and a neighborhood’s pride. It is a venue for performance intended to echo the purpose and import of the original Riviera, which once hosted the likes of Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Lawrence Welk and Glenn Miller. The modern form of the structure belies a series of historical references woven into the design. The open-air venue harkens back to the ballroom’s original design with open side walls and exterior seating areas. The barrel trusses reflect the form of the original structure, and the stage resides near the spot where the Duke once thrilled crowds.”

Metal allows a form that references the amusement park, Schipper says.

“The design’s tenet is rooted in place-making for a vibrancy that has been hushed for over four decades. Soaring trusses, repurposed from a grain storage facility, intimate a spirit of adventure through scale and a sculptural futility. They boldly mark the outdoor room for the community to gather, employing a syntax that evokes the daring of yesterday’s Coaster and Wild Mouse.”

The owner wanted the structure to represent the spirit and history of the site. “The metal allows the structure to speak,” Schipper says. “It speaks of thrills and whimsy but remains practical. It is an atypical entity constructed of a collection of typical materials.”

Incorporating prefabricated trusses repurposed from a grain storage facility, steel shapes and plates were fabricated to construct the 1,500-square-foot stage. Johnson Machine Works Inc. fabricated the steel shapes and plates and Chicago Metal Rolled Products Co. bent and rolled steel components. The steel structure was coated on-site with Tnemec Co. Inc.’s Epoxoline 66 with Endura- Shield series 73 coating.

Schipper says, “The budget for the project was modest. Metal was required to be unique, enduring and economical. The first cost of the metals was instrumental in meeting the client’s budget expectations, while the low maintenance of the coated steel will be an economical advantage for decades. The complexity of form and palette seem to be incongruous with budget, but it is a combination of prefabricated trusses and custom fabrications from stock shapes and profiles. It is a simple amalgamation of tubes.”

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/projects/riviera-stage-des-moines-iowa/

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