Before becoming a worldwide superstar, a young Taylor Swift gave an acoustic performance of her debut album to a group of about 15 people under a picnic shelter at Sleepy Hollow in Des Moines.
Now the same open-air picnic shelter where she appeared in 2006 is up for auction. Sleepy Hollow is selling the super-fan memorabilia as part of a capital campaign to raise funds for a new lodge and ski hills at the Polk County-owned resort at 4051 Dean Ave.
There’s a catch: The Swiftie who wins the auction must dismantle and remove the 40-foot-by-30-foot structure, with support posts embedded in a concrete pad, by Sept. 15 to make way for the estimated $18 million expansion.
“Buyer should inspect the structure prior to bidding and determine the best removal method,” the bid notice advises. “Bring appropriate equipment, labor, and insurance.”
That may be why the high bid as of Tuesday, Aug. 18, was $5. Plus, as the bid notice notes, the picnic tables in the decidedly humble-looking building are not included.
“Whatever we can get, we’ll be happy with, but it will also contribute to less demolition and costs,” Jeff Condon, leisure services manager for Polk County Conservation, said Tuesday. “So that part will be an added benefit.”
Other items with not-so-glamorous backstories, including utility transformers, building components and even a celebrity cutout of Snoop Dogg, also are up for bid.
How did Taylor Swift end up performing at Sleepy Hollow in Des Moines?
To promote her eponymous debut album, Swift spent most of 2006 traveling the U.S. on radio tours, staging pop-up concerts and autograph signings as she sought airplay on local radio stations.
One of them was Des Moines country music station KHKI, which arranged the Sleepy Hollow show for her at the last minute on July 29 that year. Under the shelter’s unfinished plywood ceiling and metal roof on a steamy summer Saturday, Swift performed about a half-dozen songs on an acoustic guitar for a handful of spectators, station staff and workers at the then-privately owned park.
The setlist began with what would be Swift’s first single, “Tim McGraw,” released the month before, and the never-released number “Permanent Marker.” Her self-titled album wouldn’t come out for another few months.
Darby Elliott, the daughter of the morning host at KHKI, now NASH FM 97.3, recounted for a Des Moines Register reporter in 2018 how she spent the day keeping Swift company as the teenage singer traveled around town penning personalized autographs for nascent fans. Elliott received a card from Swift with sketches of hearts and stars, thanking her for the time they shared.
“When I’m in Iowa, just know you’ll be called to duty as my personal assistant, haha,” Swift wrote in the note to Elliott. “I will be back soon!”
When Swift returned in 2009, she was the opening act for Keith Urban at Wells Fargo Arena, now Casey’s Center. But as the Register noted, she already was more of a co-headliner as her “Fearless” album, released in 2008, proved the decade’s most durable entry in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.
She returned to Wells Fargo as a headliner in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015, selling out each show at the 15,000-seat arena on her way to becoming a billionaire global superstar drawing capacity crowds at stadiums from Tokyo to London and Miami to Toronto.
What changes are coming to Sleepy Hollow?
When Polk County Conservation purchased the 76-acre facility for $3.5 million in 2021, much of the equipment was outdated, including the ski lift and snow-making equipment.
Plans for the renovated Sleepy Hollow all-season expansion call for three new ski hills and a bunny hill for novice skiers and snowboarders, using existing slopes on the property near Fourmile Creek. The new runs will have various levels of difficulty. A new ski lodge will replace the current one, with room for a third-party restaurant.
Construction is expected to begin this fall, with the lodge opening in late December 2027. Sleepy Hollow will still host annual events such as the Des Moines Renaissance Fair and the Haunted Scream Park around Halloween. Its Snowflex hill also will remain open during construction.
Kate Kealey is the growth and development reporter for the Register. Reach her at kkealey@registermedia.com or follow her on Twitter at @Kkealey17.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Taylor Swift souvenir for sale in DM. Bring a BIG truck I Exclusive
Reporting by Kate Kealey, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kate Kealey, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
