Younkers, a year after the fire.

Younkers was the last old-fashioned department store in downtown Des Moines. It finally went the way of the dinosaurs in 2005. I took some pictures inside when they announced that it would close. Click on any picture for a bigger image.

It sat empty, sad and decaying for years, until they finally began a big project to turn it into an apartment building. It was only a few months from completion when it caught fire early on March 29, 2014. The site is kitty-corner from my office building, so I got some pictures that day and the following morning through one of our windows.

The store was actually three buildings built at different times. The oldest part, built in 1896, was destroyed in the fire. The newest part, built (I believe) in 1914, survived, and they are planning to turn that into an apartment building. They had to knock out a segment of the building that connected the others. 

Here's how it looked today.

They haven't decided what will go in the empty space. For now, it's just where the skywalks end.