AKRON, Ohio — Public spaces across Akron will see vast improvements over the next two-three years thanks to an $8 million John S. and James L. Knight Foundation grant.
Knight invests in 26 cities — cities where the company once published newspapers. Akron is home to Knight’s flagship newspaper, the Akron Beacon Journal. Knight aims to foster civic engagement in “Knight cities” as part of an ongoing quest to build a healthier democracy.
In Akron, Knight is investing in accessible public spaces in and around downtown Akron, a move commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Knight Foundation.
“There’s been an increased demand on public spaces across the country, and especially in Northeast Ohio,” said Knight’s Akron Program Director Kyle Kutuchief. “We’re fortunate that in Ohio, the governor, parks leaders, mayors all decided to keep these public spaces open.”
There’s also been an increased demand for philanthropic resources, Kutuchief said. Knight is investing in improving these Akron areas, in part, because the pandemic has ramped up the need for places to safely gather.
Summit Lake Park
Summit Lake was once vibrant, with an amusement park, camping, swimming, dancing and retail. But over the decades, manufacturing polluted the waters, a highway severed the neighborhood from the city and investment disappeared, rendering Summit Lake the most disenfranchised community in Akron.
A few years ago, the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition, Knight Foundation, Summit Metro Parks, the city and other groups began to reinvest in Summit Lake. A “vision plan” was created, led by Summit Lake residents, to identify what the neighborhood’s residents want, said Canalway Coalition Executive Director Dan Rice.
Knight is investing $4 million in a project to create Summit Lake Park. Phase 1 of the project is estimated at $10 million, he said, and fundraising is underway to raise the rest.
The project will feature construction of a trail all the way around the lake, about 2.25 miles, with concessions and a shelter.
“We heard that loud and clear,” Rice said. “That’s one of the No. 1 priorities people want — to not just ride their bicycle or walk and enjoy the beautiful views down one side of the lake. They want to go all the way around the lake.”
The North Shore will be made accessible, with vegetation removed and the shore shaped to accommodate a boat dock and possibly a boat house for loaner canoes and kayaks.
Community meetings will continue, Rice said, but in small groups: in driveways, on front porches and online via a survey. The residents will determine what kind of kitchen and shelter will be built, as well as other amenities.
“Our goal was a really to transform Summit Lake into a destination,” Rice said. “But first and foremost, it’s a neighborhood park. So that’s why this resident-led process is so important. Because it’s their neighborhood, it’s their park. And so we want to be very respectful to honor that. You know, see what they’d like to see happen here.”
The project is also about giving Summit Lake residents a reason to trust their community again.
“Promises have been made and not delivered,” Kutuchief said. “This is kind of a step in taking a lot of that trust-building and starting to make permanent, lasting, significant change.”
Lock 3 Park
Lock 3 is a city-owned park on S. Main Street in Akron’s downtown. Big events generate big crowds, from free rock concerts in summer to ice skating in winter. Lock 3 draws about 300,000 people each year, according to city estimates.
Photo Credit: Tim Fitzwater Photography
Lock 3 also features a leg of the Ohio & Erie Canal, which cuts through the heart of downtown. That makes the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition a natural choice to lead a $10 million park improvement project, seeded with $2 million from Knight Foundation.
“It’s our central park,” Rice said. “It’s our gathering place in this community. The challenge is, it doesn’t serve well, the way it’s designed right now as a park.”
Lock 3 is situated along on Main Street but below street level. It hosts a bandstand and plenty of concessions nearby — but no shade.
“You feel like you’re trespassing,” Kutuchief said. “It’s just not an inviting everyday park and downtown is changing. It is becoming a neighborhood again. And so we need a park that can be both a special event venue and an everyday park.”
The project is in the concept stage, Rice said, so details aren’t yet available. But the intent is to landscape the park to offer shade and seating, while maintaining the ability to host gatherings of more than 4,000 people.
And, like the Summit Lake project, the neighborhood’s residents will have input into the park’s amenities. The city, Rice’s group and Downtown Akron Partnership (DAP), which oversees downtown life and its businesses, will continue to reach out through surveys and community events, Rice said.
“We need to take it to that next level of really creating that welcoming, accessible, equitable park space in our central, core business district,” he said. “And I think that’s exactly what this plan does. And we are incredibly excited to move forward with the implementation.”
John S. Knight House
The Knight Newspaper chain was originally headquartered in Akron, launching with the Akron Beacon Journal.
John “Jack” S. Knight inherited the newspaper from his father, Charles Knight in the 1930s. Jack and his brother, James L. Knight, eventually merged the Knight Newspapers with Ridder Publications in 1974, growing Knight-Ridder to become the second largest newspaper media company in the country.
Jack Knight lived in a house on Portage Path in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood from 1920-1929. He had planned to raise his three sons there, but moved after his wife, Katherine, unexpectedly died in 1929.
Knight House
Knight Foundation is investing $637,500 to help restore the historic structure, which will become home to the Summit County Land Bank.
Restoring the house for land bank operations dovetails well with the organization’s mission, said Executive Director Patrick Bravo.
“To revitalize and reuse and bring new life to abandoned blighted properties,” he said of the land bank’s work. “And it just so happens, [the house] has all this historic value and connection to the community. It was a perfect marriage of opportunities.”
The total cost of the renovation isn’t yet known. But any funds are needed beyond the Knight grant will be financed with some funds raised privately, Bravo said.
The house is situated near the Summit County Historical Society, which is located in the Simon Perkins Stone Mansion, the son of Akron’s founder General Simon Perkins. The John Brown home, a notorious abolitionist, is across the street. Nearby is Gray Lodge, also known as the Stadelman Estate, a former home of two of the city’s “Rubber Barons.”
When the Knight house is finished, the idea is to create a walkable historic corridor, Bravo said.
Downtown Akron Partnership
DAP works to bring beauty, vibrancy and safety to Akron’s downtown. Knight Foundation is investing $1.35 million to support the organization’s efforts.
In addition to hosting special events and supporting small businesses, DAP offers ambassadors who provide residents and visitors with assistance and information.
