What kind of legacy do we want to leave? That’s what Rick and Mary Flatt have been asking themselves about the future of the family’s Sleepy Hollow Sports Park, which they’ve been operating for nearly three decades on Des Moines’ east side.
“It’s been a family thing for us from the get-go,” Rick said Tuesday, recalling the times shared with his daughters, who grew up at the facility learning to ski and later teaching others how to do the same.
“It’s been kind of a learning facility as much as it has been for our family and so many other families, so that’s another reason that we want to see this continue,” he added.
With that history in mind, the Flatts have decided to sell the 76-acre facility to Polk County, which will work with Polk County Conservation to protect and enhance the land for future outdoor recreational activities.
More:Central Iowa favorite Sleepy Hollow to become a Polk County park
“We have been talking for a long time about how to conserve and protect a 76-acre facility inside the city of Des Moines, and we couldn’t be more happy with the partnership of having a group that has conservation in its name. We’re extremely excited about that and extremely grateful,” Rick said at a news conference Tuesday.
Sleepy Hollow is a central Iowa favorite for tubing and sledding in the winter and for Renaissance fairs, festivals, comedy shows and concerts in the summer. Each fall, Sleepy Hollow’s Renaissance Faire Park turns into a Halloween attraction and the surrounding forest becomes a haunted trail. Taylor Swift once even performed there early in her career.
Also Tuesday:Polk County adopts new COVID-19 policy for employees: proof of vaccination or weekly testing
The Flatts will continue to run all operations through the end of 2022. In 2023, Polk County Conservation will operate the winter sports facility. The Flatts will run camping operations and special events, including the Kosmic Kingdom music festival, the Renaissance Faires and the Scream Park. Polk County will run all operations beginning in 2024.
According to Rich Leopold, Director of Polk County Conservation, construction won’t begin until next year, and all activities and events will still continue while work is being done in various areas of the park.
With the announcement, the county pledged to raise millions of dollars to fund improvements at the park. A $3 million fundraising campaign will begin to improve the facilities, including:
- Develop a full-service campground with 60-camping spots and expand current electric facilities, including for Iowa State Fair campers, as well as develop tent camping amenities. Plans also include adding a new shower house, restroom building and registration booth.
- Make minor interior and exterior improvements to the existing Ski Lodge, including Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades.
- Adding new cross-country ski and snowshoe trails and, possibly, downhill ski trails.
- Improve access to the park’s existing pond and enhance fisheries for public fishing and other programs.
- Convert the pond to an ice skating rink during winter.
- Connect Sleepy Hollow with the Gay Lea Wilson Trail, providing safe routes to downtown Des Moines, Pleasant Hill and Altoona.
- Expanding existing hiking trails.
- Stage Central Iowa Water Trails kayak access.
- Restore banks on Fourmile Creek to prevent erosion and improve water quality.
Polk County Supervisor Tom Hockensmith said in a news release over the weekend that he supports the move, which was approved by the Polk County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning, adding he looks forward to seeing the Flatt’s legacy continue.
“The rich tradition of this Sports Park, to me, was so important to continue and maintain here on the east side of Des Moines and for all the central Iowa,” Hockensmith said. “At the end of the day it possibly could have been repurposed for another for something else. That was really the last thing that we wanted to see from the Polk County Board of Supervisors standpoint, we wanted to continue the tradition that Rick and Mary flat started here.”
Sleepy Hollow never opened for tubing last winter because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first time in the park’s 27-year history not to open for a winter season. Earlier last year, Sleepy Hollow held a socially distanced East Side Night.
More:‘It’s not worth it’: Why the owners of Sleepy Hollow Sports Park decided to close for winter
This winter Sleepy Hollow will open to the public for tubing and sledding, Rick said Tuesday.
The Flatts will serve as stewards as the park’s ownership makes its transition. With the county’s resources and vision, they said, they will be able to better protect the property.
“Mary and I have been kind of the front of this whole thing, but we’ve had so much help from 98 people who believed in us from the very beginning of this journey,” Rick said. “We’re just extremely grateful that this will continue and we had the best steward possible for guiding it in the future.”
Melody Mercado covers the eastern Des Moines metro for the Register. Reach her at mmercado@registermedia.com or Twitter @melodymercadotv.
