Officials in Akron鈥檚 West Hill neighborhood are trying to turn the area into an arts-and-merchant district 鈥� building on a zoning amendment that was passed in the 1990s.
West Hill 鈥� just south of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, and west of downtown 鈥� is zoned to allow homeowners to open small businesses on their property. That zoning was expanded this week to include more of the neighborhood, and Karen Noel, vice-president of the West Hill Community Development Corporation, says she hopes it attracts more businesses to the area.
鈥淲hat is hoped-for soon is a martial arts studio. We have somebody who鈥檚 interested in doing a creative writing lab with a niche book store. One of my tenants actually wants to do a music studio here. I鈥檓 a drummer, and I have to drive to Montrose to buy drum sticks!鈥�
The community development corporation also plans a marketing campaign this month to bring attention to the various arts groups already operating in West Hill. And they鈥檝e applied for a $100,000 grant from the new Akron Parks Challenge to restore , near historic Glendale Cemetery, west of downtown.
Noel says right now, due to the city's , 鈥渢here are earth-movers and piles of gravel [there]. We are committed 鈥� and the city is committed 鈥� to turning it back into green space. We would do things like build a stage, maybe a fire pit, a shelter house, but just putting it back together as a green space with maybe a couple picnic tables is really a good start, too.鈥�
The city says it will restore the grass in the park after construction is completed, and winners of the parks challenge will be announced June 1.
