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Reimagining Akron: Could 30 acres transform downtown into place where millennials want to live?

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What if Akron flooded part of the downtown Innerbelt and created pop-up ice skating and cross-country ski lanes on cold winter days?

Maybe it could re-use earth dredged during the massive sewer project to build an elevated land path connecting West Hill and downtown. Or create a landing pad for the Goodyear blimp to take off and land over the city skyline.

On Thursday evening, Kent State Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative will present four plans — and scores of ideas, including these — about how Akron could reuse 30 acres of land that will open up when the city closes a 1-mile swath of the Innerbelt in 2018.

The public is invited to attend at 5:30 p.m. at the NIHF STEM Middle School on South Broadway.

Jason Segedy, Akron’s director of planning and urban development, said no other parcel of land could reshape Akron more.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say this is just as transformative for the city as building the Innerbelt was,” he said.

The millennial generation born between 1981 and 1996 craves dense urban spaces where they can live, play and work without needing a car.

Akron leaders want to hold on to the millennials and hope the appropriate use of the 30 acres could spur a downtown revival that could ripple throughout the city.

Akron contracted with the design cooperative — which combines students from Kent State’s urban design graduate program with students studying architecture and environmental design — to brainstorm for 48 hours last weekend about potential uses for the space.

Four teams came up with plans that include everything from short-term opportunities — like hosting films nights on the abandoned freeway — to long-term development, like housing built into the hillsides overlooking downtown, said Kristen Zeiber, an urban designer with the cooperative.

Akron, she said, could use the unique chasm like other cities use their rivers or waterfronts, developing along the edge.

Teams’ ideas

Here are the four teams and a glimpse at some of their ideas:

• Woven belt: Gradually build up earth from the north and south ends of the Innerbelt so the middle section was level with downtown. A roundabout would link downtown to West Hill. The team incorporated ideas from Spain, Canada and South Korea to use the remaining outdoor space year-round, along with water features that mimic the shape of the freeway ramps.

• Future Elevation: Use existing roadway as is, not unlike Germans who closed Berlin Tempelhof Airport, but never tore it down. Residents use the runways and green space for biking, hiking and baseball.

• Belt: Build ribbon pathways with viewing platforms that connect the canal, the roadways and the towpath to bring people outside. Manage stormwater with terraced pools.

• Spine of Akron: Turn the sunken Innerbelt dividing Akron into a spine connecting it. A health zone on the south end near the hospitals would include exercise parks and trails; a commerce zone in the center would host market bazaars and housing; and a cultural zone on the north end would host festivals and concerts.

Segedy said one of his favorite ideas includes steps up to Oak Hill near Glendale Cemetery. In the winter, there are footprints in the snow there showing that people are looking for a way to cross to downtown.

New housing could be developed there, Segedy said, something developers have already shown some interest in.

This is one of three reports being released over the next three months, by the end of Mayor Dan Horrigan’s first year in office, to reimagine what the city could be. In November, the city and Downtown Akron Partnership will release a vision and redevelopment plan, followed in December by the city’s plan to tackle housing throughout Akron.

Segedy said all three plans assess what Akron has now, along with the challenges and opportunities. After getting feedback from the residents, the city will use the information to develop master plans that dovetail, aimed at pushing Akron forward.

First phase underway

The first phase of the Innerbelt, or state Route 59, project is already underway.

The $17 million plan includes removing the State Street bridge over the Innerbelt and rebuilding parts of Dart Avenue and Rand Streets.

Plans now show the southern portion of the six-lane freeway remaining open even after the mile stretch to the north permanently closes.

Drivers traveling north along the Innerbelt will still be able to reach Howard Street but they will be re-routed onto side streets to get there.

What happens to the closed portion of the Innerbelt next is unclear, but the ideas coming out of the design cooperative are the first step, Segedy said.

The city will likely remake the 30 acres in chunks over years, which takes the burden off the city budget and limits risk by spreading the work among developers, he said.

“Twenty years from now, you could go out there and never know the freeway was there,” Segedy said. “My hope is it’s designed so well, so perfectly, that it looks like it has always been part of the community.”

Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.


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