Nearly three years after a Canton company bought the Rubber Bowl with grandiose plans to breathe new life into it, the former University of Akron football stadium remains vacant and decaying.
Graffiti dots the inside walls.
The ceramic toilets are all broken, with some of them smashed into shards and scattered into the stands.
Pieces of wood and broken glass fill the area below the gutted press box.
And the bowl is stripped bare of its bleachers, giving the stadium a weird Roman Colosseum feel.
The storied Rubber Bowl, which hosted everything from exhibition games for the Cleveland Browns to a rodeo to rock concerts, is not what it once was.
The head of the All-American Soap Box Derby, which abuts the stadium, calls it an embarrassment to Akron in its current condition.
That’s why city leaders — despite the property owner still pledging to renovate the facility — say it’s time to raze the 76-year-old structure that was built during the Great Depression.
“I’d like to see it come down,” Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan said. “I don’t see what purpose it serves right now.”
The horseshoe-shaped Rubber Bowl, located in southeast Akron next to the Akron Fulton International Airport, has sat unused since the UA Zips lost a four-overtime game to the University of Buffalo in November 2008.
UA abandoned the facility when it opened the on-campus InfoCision Stadium the following year.
Grand plans
After sitting vacant for years, the Rubber Bowl and 6.8 acres along George Washington Boulevard were sold to Team 1 Marketing Group of Canton for $38,000 in 2013.
The company immediately announced an ambitious plan to put a dome on the facility and to launch a U.S. Football League franchise called the Akron Fire. Then there was talk of concerts and it becoming an entertainment venue.
Those plans never materialized.
The following year, Team 1 held an auction to rid the stadium of many items, including signs, yard markers and even urinals.
There were plans for a major hip-hop concert last year, but the event was shifted to Cleveland due to concerns about the condition of the facility.
The structural soundness of the stadium is unclear. The press box looks like it might topple due to all the vandalism.
The bleachers are strewn about in piles. Manhole covers are missing, leaving gaping, deep holes throughout.
The only portion of the stadium that appears in good condition is the field itself.
The green artificial turf is still spongy to the touch. But someone has tried to rip up the Zippy logo at the 50-yard line and the “A” in Akron in one end zone has been torn away.
The future
Sean Mason, president of Team 1, said the company still sees a future for the stadium, despite its condition and the city’s opinion.
He blamed city Councilman Bob Hoch, who represents the area, and the All-American Soap Box Derby for holding up renovations.
Mason said that AEL Capital Partners of Colorado is now leading the effort to revive the facility.
The company, which couldn’t be reached for comment, will soon issue a news release about its plans, he said.
But Mason added that he’s not sure what can be done if the city opposes their plans.
“If they aren’t willing to get on board and support our efforts, what are we going to be able to do?” he asked.
Summit County has appraised the property for $2.2 million. Team 1 owes more than $84,000 in delinquent property taxes and interest.
Some city officials regret not buying the Rubber Bowl, given its condition, when the university was selling it.
Akron had sold the stadium for $1 to the university in 1970. The city had the option to buy back the property for $1, Hoch said.
In hindsight, that was a mistake, he said.
Embarrassment
Joe Mazur, the president and CEO of the Soap Box Derby, said the Rubber Bowl has become an embarrassment for his nonprofit organization.
About 50,000 people — many from out of state — visit Derby Downs each year and it’s distressing that the stadium becomes part of their impression of Akron, he said.
“It’s been an eyesore for us,” Mazur said.
The Soap Box Derby had to put a fence around the area to keep vandals away, he said. Large artwork the size of billboards will be installed to block views of the facility.
The organization also is investing in surveillance cameras because of vandals who are attracted to the site.
“It needs to come down,” Mazur said.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ.