(10/10/07) - A group of young people who
aren’t old enough to remember when ‘Howard Street’ meant hot women and cool
jazz have been looking into the corners of the old neighborhood history to see what Howard
Street might look like on a new drawing board.In partnership with the City of Akron and
its office of Planning and Urban Development, the Howard Street Corridor Committee of the
Cascade Locks Park Association (CLPA) is working with the Cleveland Urban Design
Collaborative (CUDC) to organize and implement a Charrette (shuh-RETT)
for envisioning the future of the Howard Street Neighborhood. A Charrette is a creative
process whereby designers develop solutions and ideas for a defined area within a limited
time frame. Staff and students of CUDC have been researching the area and talking with
area stakeholders to understand their thoughts on further development.
On October 13 and 14 the CUDC group will be working at the Northside Lofts to draft
plans, renderings and concepts with a public presentation planned for Tuesday, October 16
at 7 p.m. The presentation will be held at Northside Lofts, first floor, with parking
available at Northside off Furnace St.
Cascade Locks Park Association is a nonprofit organization working to develop the park
along Locks 10-16 of the Ohio & Erie Canal linking downtown Akron to parks and
recreation along the Towpath Trail. The vision of CLPA’s Howard Street Corridor
Committee is to create a vibrant community celebrating the multi-cultural heritage and
legacy of the Howard St. area.
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