Hawkeye Hotels, a Coralville-based company purchased the Hotel Fort Des Moines, a modern hotel raised up to drastically alter both the skyline and the culture of Des Moines. The historic downtown hotel, built-in 1919, is being contemporarily transformed to once again fulfill its intended promise — to be a Des Moines jewel and worldwide attraction. No historic stone would be left unturned as every square inch of the hotel would be restored to its full, 11-story elegance for the first time in more than five decades.