 West Des Moines annexed the neighboring community of Clover Hills in 1950, the town of Ashawa, a former Rock Island railroad stop, in 1957, and the town of Commerce, along the Raccoon River, in 1960.City government also grew, and when the venerable city hall could not keep up with the city's expansion, the city opened a new municipal building in 1954.With the influx of students, the school district's ever-expanding borders continually compromised classroom capacity.