After more than two years of construction, a popular park in the center of Downtown Akron reopens Friday.
The newly redeveloped Lock 3 Park features new landscaping, seating and a state-of-the-art performance pavilion, said Chris Griffith, downtown operations manager for the city of Akron.
“This is going to be the top-notch facility for Akron,” Griffith said. "It’s going to attract bigger talent for us for summer concerts, bigger festivals, just general people who have interest in doing things in Akron.”
For years, Lock 3 has hosted events, including concerts and festivals in the summer and ice skating in the winter.
The renovations have helped the space become more of a year-round community center, said Dan Rice, executive director of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition, who collaborated on the project with the city.
“Lock 3 was previously an incredibly successful event, concert and festival facility … but the challenge is, what was happening in the space when there wasn’t an event, concert or festival? It wasn’t really necessarily designed for a 365-day park,” Rice said.
The $17 million redevelopment is part of Akron Civic Commons 2.0, an effort that aims to put community input at the center of planning.
Through surveys and community conversations, project leaders found that residents wanted two skating rinks, better and more accessible seating and more to do throughout the year, not just the summertime, Rice said.
That’s also what city leaders said they found during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We learned that through COVID, that people loved and wanted to be in their parks, and that’s now what we have,” Griffith said. “Unfortunately during COVID, you could come here but there was nothing here, right? We didn’t have the stage up, we didn’t have the canopy up, we didn’t have the ice rinks up. It was a great green space, but now it’s a great green space with amenities and infrastructure.”
The park has shaded seats for the warmer months and two new skating rinks, as well as a permanent stage – the Maynard Performance Pavilion – that can be used in any season, Griffith said.
“Previously, we had to take our stage up and down every year to put the ice rink up, so now, the stage and the cover is up year-round. So we are able to even do shows in the winter,” he said.
The pavilion has three options for performances: a lawn view for concerts and events totaling 3,500 guests, a patio view for up to 1,000 people and the canal view for up to 500 guests. It’s also equipped with theatrical lighting and better speakers than the previous stage, Griffith said.
Additionally, the Frances and Richard Buchholzer Balcony will serve as a gathering space near the sidewalk entrance on South Main Street, with moveable seating in the warmer months.
Construction crews lowered the hill that guests walk down to get to the pavilion, making it more accessible for entry. There are also new landscaped gardens with 35,500 native plants and more than 100 trees, Rice said.
The city of Akron contributed $6.5 million to the project. Other funding came from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and individual organizations and donors, according to a media release.
The reopening celebration follows the city’s Welcome Santa Parade in Downtown Akron, which steps off at 6 p.m. Friday.
