Building Community

After years of study, we have determined that the time is right to begin an aggressive expansion and modernization project. This $24 million project, Building Community, aims to link the old with the new, creating a space true to the urban core it serves and supporting the leaders of tomorrow by fostering community and inspiring learning. Building Community creates a new facility south of University Avenue, renovates the current Building 1, and enhances the Campus, providing walkways and ample space for students and the community to gather. Our vision is for a Campus that encourages learning, enhances the student experience and adds to the revitalization of Downtown Des Moines and the surrounding communities.

Urban Campus Overview

DMACC Urban Campus has served Central Iowa since 1972 and is the most diverse college location in Iowa. A pillar of the community, the DMACC Urban Campus welcomes students from all over central Iowa and serves as the epicenter of quality education and training for diverse populations and nontraditional students.

Encompassing 16 acres in the center of Des Moines, Urban Campus links to the more than 200 programs DMACC offers leading to a degree, certificate or diploma. Classes are designed to put our students on the path to personal achievement and professional success.

Upon leaving DMACC Urban Campus, a full 98% of graduates are employed, in the military, or pursuing additional degrees. And 93% of these graduates choose to stay in Iowa, contributing to our economy and building our community.

The DMACC Urban Campus is more than classrooms. It is about building community, while preparing students to find success in an increasingly competitive job market. This campus provides opportunities that secure meaningful employment for students changing their lives and the lives of their family members.

An Environment of Learning

DMACC is where our future leaders thrive. An environment that brings students together to study the sciences or hear a speech from a world-renowned author. DMACC's Building Community inspires students from a diverse range of cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds to gather in pursuit of the knowledge and skills necessary to serve as Iowa's next generation of leaders.

There are two major phases to Building Community: Phase 1 is the construction of a new Student Life and STEM facility. Phase 2 is the renovation and enhancement of the current centerpiece of Urban Campus, Building 1. Building 1 is the original Urban Campus facility and Building Community will pay homage to it, while making it among the most welcoming, student-centered and technologically-advanced facilities on any DMACC Campus.

Take a tour with President Denson and Provost Anne Howsare.

View Building Plans

See the proposed floorplans:

Your Opportunity

You can be a part of transforming the educational landscape of Central Iowa. By investing in Building Community, you are providing the physical location for our future leaders to flourish. From new science labs and student-centered classrooms that inspire Iowa's leaders of tomorrow to feed their imagination, to an environment of learning that encourages a multi-linguistic student body to grow together, our vision for Urban Campus is ambitious but obtainable with your investment.

You can support Building Community in several ways: through gifts by cash or check, a pledge paid over a period of up to five years, or transferring a security or stock. All gifts in support of DMACC's Building Community are tax-deductible.

If you choose to invest in Building Community, you will be recognized on a donor wall in the new Student Services Building or in one of the designated naming areas.

Your investment will have an exponential impact that benefits all of Iowa. Please join us in Building Community!

Building Community

DMACC Foundation

Urban Campus Overview

An Environment of Learning

View Building Plans

Your Opportunity

Make a Gift