Discussion: Downtown Akron has been undergoing a transformation since the 1960's when urban renewal replaced factories with Cascade Plaza. In the 1970's, Ohio Edison’s commitment enabled the construction of Akron Centre. In the past 20 years, the City has assembled a critical mass of activity downtown: Lock 3 park and Canal Square; CitiCenter and the Main St. Streetscape; the John S. Knight Center, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Canal Park, and Canal Place; and the University’s re-use of Polksy’s and the occupancy of O’Neil’s by Roetzel and Andress.

If the last 40 years has been spent on "hardware," the promise of the year 2000 and beyond is to program downtown with the "software" to make the central business district a vibrant and robust attraction that will lure residents and visitors alike.

By the year 2004, if population trends continue, Akron will be the center-point of a 50 mile arc that will include more people within an hour’s drive than any other place in northeast Ohio.

Downtown has been fortunate to have energetic inhabitants which attract thousands of guests to downtown each week: the University, EJ Thomas Hall, the Civic Theatre, the Art Museum, the Library, the Akron Aeros, a new "restaurant row," and three highly successful First Night programs.

In the future, the Downtown Akron Partnership (DAP) will utilize its newly-designated Special Improvement District to maintain high standards of cleanliness and safety; to develop transportation loops; and to duplicate the energy of First Night with City Faire and similar programs.

The promise of the Ohio and Erie Canal Corridor presents downtown with the backdrop for future success: a nationally recognized landmark that brings status, funding, and the one ingredient that seems to have spurred success in other cities: water.

What will be required:

Downtown should be attractive:

• Akron’s best design practices need to be showcased.
• Architectural achievements will be on a par with Knight Center and Inventure Place.
• Adequate green space, tree and flowerscapes, and monumental works of public art will make downtown feel different.

Downtown should be approachable:

• Good signage is needed to identify access to parking, and the way to attractions.
• Well-lighted pedestrian ways with a visible police presence will make visitors feel safer.
• A transit hub where buses, commuter rail, and automobiles converge will make the center city accessible to all.

Downtown should be diverse:

• A variety of musical entertainment and a blend of dining choices will make the center city open to all residents.
• In addition to affordable housing downtown, there also needs to be first-class housing that will attract residents for whom the amenities of the center city will be a principal reason to locate there.
• Business headquarters will locate downtown as well as incubators for entrepreneurial start-ups.

Downtown should be interesting:

• An arcade of history museums housing collections of memorabilia related to rubber manufacturing, airships, marbles, pre-history, and social history should occupy space that would not otherwise find a ready tenant.
• A retail incubator would permit start-up art galleries, craft stores, and food enterprises operated by persons looking for careers later in life and young entrepreneurs who need some support to create new retail business.

Downtown should feel safe:

• The community at large, Hospitals, Health Agencies, the City should address the population of mentally ill people who gravitate to the downtown. The City should develop appropriate legislation that will assist safety forces in managing a difficult urban problem.

To achieve these goals, the City should host an ongoing assembly with DAP, the University, the County, and downtown stakeholders. A major facilities assembly should be convened to plan for the significant capital that would be required to build and maintain other possible venues: an arena, an aquarium, a botanical garden, an IMAX theater, a water park on the canal, and ideas yet to be spawned.