BARBERTON: A few lights and some landscaping here. Some bike lanes and new parking there. A handful of interactive kiosks sprinkled about. A pair of craft breweries. And how about a Better Block event?
City officials are very excited about what’s in store for downtown Barberton, a vision that has been slowly rolling out the past couple of years with lots of little surprises yet to come.
The fall calendars of Mayor Bill Judge and Planning Director Joe Stefan are dotted with meetings with groups, contractors and agencies that will all play a role in various projects, both large and small.
“It’s just an exciting time to be part of it all,” Stefan said after outlining the changes in store.
The three main focus areas are West Tuscarawas Avenue, 2nd Street Northwest and Wooster Road North, all within a block or two of Lake Anna, the city’s central gem.
Here’s what’s coming:
Wooster Road
The problem with Wooster Road, the main drag that splits Barberton in half, is that it winds around the outside of downtown and takes motorists along the back of the historic buildings lining Tuscarawas.
Recent traffic pattern changes, including the addition of a bridge that connects Robinson Avenue to Wooster, had the effect of making this unaesthetic view the front door to the heart of the city.
Inspired by how a new promenade in Kent completely changed the view of their downtown from Kent State University, Judge said the city is determined to make Wooster Road more appealing.
An architecture firm has redesigned the long parking lot along Wooster from 4th to 7th streets, removing concrete islands, condensing three entrances into two, and providing for an additional 48 parking spaces.
The project will start next spring and will include hiding now-visible dumpsters behind fencing, adding greenery along the road and erecting signage that announces the lot as the gateway to the arts and entertainment district, downtown shopping and Lake Anna Park.
In the next month, officials plan to meet with business owners that back up to the parking lot to discuss the coming changes and also to encourage them to help where they can. To that end, the city’s design review committee recently amended its rules so there are more options (paint colors and signage) for businesses that want to make an impact.
“We’ve already seen that with paint and ingenuity, you can add graphics to the back of the wall,” Stefan said.
Also along Wooster, the Magic Mile will have more of a presence. The mile was created last year to guide hikers and bikers from the towpath beneath the Robinson Street bridge to downtown with the use of arches, signs and pavement painting.
A $500,000 grant from the local transportation study agency AMATS will pay for an even bolder presence, putting in defined bike lanes, possibly coloring the entire path, and fixing traffic signals to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists crossing the busy thoroughfare.
The walkway on the west side of Lake 8 theater – the main path for getting from Wooster to the front of downtown — will also be spotlighted, with a new arch and strings of lights.
Design will begin next spring, with implementation not likely before 2019.
Tuscarawas
This year, the city strung a canopy of festive lights over Tusc on the block that includes a pair of theaters, a popular coffee house and art gallery, and a building that houses art studios. The lights are lit every Thursday through Sunday from 7:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
The project also included removing several trees to reveal the facades of the century-old buildings, hanging flowering baskets and adding stamped brick concrete designs along the sidewalks.
That activity will be repeated next year one block to the east, home to restaurants, antique shops and other retailers.
Stefan said the city will take that program as far as it can with its $50,000 annual budget, so it could take up to two years to finish the makeover.
Excitement is also growing for two breweries that plan to take up residence on Tuscarawas just a block from each other
Magic City Brewing Co. wants to renovate the old Al’s meat market, and Ignite Brewing Co. hopes to convert the former auto shop just west of the movie house (more recently home to Real Gone Daddy art studio) into a restaurant and beer garden.
Both are talking about 2017 grand openings.
2nd Street
The other half of downtown Barberton — 2nd Street Northwest — has not had a lot of attention in recent years. That’s about to change.
In the next couple of months, the city will seek bids for a consultant to come up with a grand design for the four-block stretch. Business owners will also be asked to weigh in on what can be done to bring out 2nd Street’s personality.
“I’m of the belief it shouldn’t look like Tusc,” Stefan said of the street that includes restaurants, a florist, a pet store, some offices and the Lake Anna YMCA. “It’s totally different.”
To help people envision what a thriving 2nd might look like, the city is trying to find champions to put on a Better Block event similar to recent ones in Akron’s North Hill and Cuyahoga Falls.
Better Block is a national program that helps design a single weekend event that brings in pop-up vendors, temporary structures and other activities to give residents an idea of how a block might look with some new investment.
“We’ve been in contact with Better Block and the Barberton Community Foundation is discussing it, but you need to find people invested in that area to carry it out,” Stefan said. “Right now, we’re in the process of reaching out and finding those people.”
Other changes are coming faster.
Barberton High School art teacher Ron White is leading a group of students who are painting a new mural on a large white brick wall on a vacant lot.
Because that lot is also home to the most-used Metro bus stop in southern Summit County, there is motivation for making it a more attractive gathering spot and “pivot point” for downtown.
The city also recently tore down a neglected building that housed a former candy shop and paved it for additional parking. On that same lot, the city hopes to install bike racks and a new kiosk by the end of the year .
Initially, the kiosk will promote downtown events and help pedestrians find their way to different hotspots around town, but it could become much more in the near future.
The city has been meeting with Community Hub, a provider of interactive, digital hubs that self-fund through advertising but also talk to visitors.
Stefan said there could be as many as 12 “hubs” placed around the city next year, each helping people find different locations, businesses and activities.
The city is currently trying to figure out how to get electric to some desired locations, such as the towpath that runs between the canal and river just east of downtown.
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.