The Des Moines City Council has unanimously approved plans for Des Moines Public Schools to demolish and rebuild Moulton Elementary School as part of the Reimagining Education plan, clearing the way for a $42 million performing arts signature school in the heart of the neighborhood.

The 7-0 vote during the council’s meeting on January 26, 2026, came after discussion of whether the proposal should be referred to the Historic Preservation Commission, a step that could have delayed the project.

“I will fight to preserve a lot of things, but this is an opportunity to build something new,” said Rob Barron, city council member and former member of the DMPS School Board.

Barron, who volunteers at the school each week, said he is familiar with the building’s condition and pointed to the strong public support behind the project. The Reimagining Education bond election passed with 73 percent voter approval in November 2025.

“I think we have a pretty good idea this is something the community wants. It was a major part of the Reimagining Education plan, which won resounding approval by folks all over the city,” Barron said.

The new Moulton Arts Academy will be designed as a dedicated performing arts school, creating modern spaces for students to learn, rehearse, and perform while serving as a cultural anchor for the surrounding neighborhood.

Students will finish the 2025-26 school year in the current building and then attend school at Kurtz Opportunity Center for two years while the new school is built. Demolition and removal of the old building are scheduled to begin in November 2026, with groundbreaking slated for the summer of 2027. The Moulton Arts Academy will reopen to students for the 2028-29 school year.

Design work on the new Moulton Arts Academy is already underway, with architects beginning to shape the vision for the future.

“I think it’s exciting for that neighborhood to have a $40 million brand new school of the arts,” said Connie Boesen, Des Moines Mayor. “It’s sad that it is old, but the building has had a good life.”

Before demolition begins, DMPS plans to document and photograph the exterior and interior of the building and salvage as many fixtures and materials as possible for reuse, as required by the City of Des Moines, helping preserve pieces of the school’s history even as a new chapter begins.

Read more about Reimagining Education on our dedicated website.