Showing posts with label Places. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Places. Show all posts
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On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, we will be researching Historical Housing at the Goodyear Library from 10 am to 4 pm. We will show you how simple this can be and we will work together to confirm the style of housing within the historical area.
Friday is our Reservoir Park Pool Party from 4 pm to 7 pm Come and celebrate the artwork done by many of our neighbors and friends along with Mac Love @ play.
GHCAC will be hosting their Cookout on Friday evening from 6 to 9 at the corner of Goodyear and Honodle.
If you are able to volunteer with any of the above activities your help would be most appreciated...there is a lot to do - and "many hands will make it go much more quickly"
These kinds of businesses are also important in enhancing Goodyear Heights’ attractiveness as a walkable community. The neighborhood was built before the era where everyone had a car—and it was designed to have the most-needed services within easy walking distance. For example, around 1920, the commercial area around Goodyear Boulevard and Pioneer St. included a grocery, butcher shop, sundry store (think of a drug store without the pharmacy), a real estate office, barber shop, and more. Later, as America became infatuated with the automobile, these kinds of retail services became more centralized (think of the old Acme at Six Corners) and as time went on, moved even further out from the central parts of the city—which is why the closest Acme is now in Tallmadge.
Today, more people would like the convenience of a neighborhood grocery; not a huge mega-store, but something more modest that offers a decent selection of basic foods at a reasonable price. For the older members of the audience, think of an old Lawson’s store on steroids. Combined with a weekly Farmer’s Market in a central location for produce and other specialty items, this would be helpful for the neighborhood. If you’ve ever been to the Mustard Seed Market in Highland Square, you can see how a grocery operation of modest size has become a popular neighborhood gathering place. The store itself is not that big at all, but the public gathering spaces and café on the second floor has almost become the “neighborhood living room.”
Notes: 1811 Tonawanda Ave. Akron, OH 44305 / 3 bedrooms and 1 bath; ready to move in and enjoy. Central air, forced air heat and detached, 2-car garage. Wood-burning fireplace.
For more details, click HERE.
The process begins with a preliminary questionnaire, which gives a general overview of the nominated area and requires the submitter to provide detailed information about the proposed district. This information generally covers four different criteria, which describe an area’s significance in terms of:
a) Historic significance in terms of key national or local historic events
b) Association with important people of national or local importance
c) Definitive characteristics, representing the work of a master, or distinctive features that make it representative of a type, period or method of design/construction
d) Association or potential for archaeological discovery
While many historic districts have been deemed eligible for the National Register of Historic Places using just one of these criteria, Goodyear Heights can claim to have significance using three of these criteria; a, b, and c. That provides a distinct advantage in pursuing our application.
Our preliminary paperwork also included a number of photographs, including houses, streetscapes, parks and other images which will provide our SHPO evaluation team with an image of the neighborhood’s current condition. Also important were maps of the proposed district and historic maps of the original phases of the allotment.
It’s a long evaluation process; once the materials are reviewed, a site visit to Goodyear Heights will be made by the SHPO to further research the neighborhood and, providing the submission is approved, they will provide recommendations and guidance for preparing the final application for the National Register of Historic Places. This will be submitted to the National Parks Service.
So – our work has just begun! If you have questions, or would like to offer help if it is needed, we would certainly like to hear from you. In the meantime, be sure to sign our online petition, which will help us as we pursue obtaining assistance from the city of Akron on this project.
The following article is from a 1916 Edition of the company newspaper, The Wingfoot Clan. It provides a lot of interesting details on the progress, and news of a naming contest:
“Sixteen streets of the new allotment, Goodyear Heights No. 2, are as yet un-named. A part of them are continuations of streets and roads already existing and a few have been christened with appropriate names, but sixteen remain to be named. This must be done at once so they can be recorded, and to do this the Goodyear Heights Realty Company is offering a prize of $5.00 in cash to the Goodyearite or member of a Goodyear family who submits the best list of sixteen names before Saturday noon, July 22nd. A blank appears at the bottom of this page which should be filled out and sent in to Mr. Apel. A map of the new sub-division appears on the insert to give you an idea of the lay of the land.
The work on this allotment has progressed more rapidly than the average man appreciates, and is being pushed faster because Goodyear Heights is practically sold out, but a few lots are left. Though it is yet virgin farm land, it has been carefully surveyed and plotted, and the contracts for all grading have been let. The plans for the sewer and water systems are now being made and the contracts call for the completion of all this work by January 1st, 1917. Paving of the streets will then be started early next spring.
The work of designing the sub-division is being done by the same artists who designed Goodyear Heights, and the layout preserves all the natural beauties, the woods, hills and orchards and the little creek valley, converting some of them into parks, others into beautiful residence sections. Prizes will be offered later on for the naming of these places. Goodyear Heights No. 2 is destined to become in a few years one of Akron’s show spots, a residence section ideal for the working man of moderate income.”
That said, the Pond still gets much of its water from natural springs that flow down from Goodyear Heights, and large drains were installed during the neighborhood’s construction to allow natural water flow to find its way down to the Pond. Additional drains were installed at the Pond to lower its overall level by about four feet; this was done to dry up the swampy area at the bottom of Goodyear Boulevard so a solid road bed could be laid down. These drains, in turn, sent overflow into the Little Cuyahoga.
About two hundred years ago, Blue Pond covered two or three times as much space as it does today, and reached all the way over to the ridge at East Akron Cemetery. At the time Goodyear Heights was being built, it was a nearly round body of water, with open banks almost all the way around. Even in the late 19th century, it was a source of amusement and recreation; a boardwalk was built around the lake, a bandstand was built over the water, as was a small dancing pavilion. Investors had collected about $30,000 for additional improvements, but those plans were abandoned when the president and treasurer of the organization made off with the money. A few years later, Goodyear took over the property and had Warren Manning develop an overall landscaping plan as part of his Goodyear Heights work. The plan, which included dozens of tennis courts and other structures, was never fully carried out; the recession of 1920 made it impossible for the company to complete Manning's impressive design. Several years later, Reservoir Park was created, and the everyday recreational needs of Goodyear Heights, which had been mostly served by Blue Pond Park & Seiberling Field, carried on further up the hill.
Mysteries continued to be associated with Blue Pond. For years, people claimed that the pond had no bottom, though later railroad surveys had measured it to be 90 feet at its deepest point, which is still surprising. Some of these rumors are based on witnesses who insist that during the construction of the old dance hall, seven piles had to be driven, one on top of the other, before solid bedrock was reached. This was later refuted by people who were actually involved, who explained that only four piles were driven—next to each other, each one longer than the previous, before the longest was found to be sturdy and of sufficient depth.
Perhaps more sinister were the old rumors that people who drowned in the pond were never found—or that occasionally, bodies would slowly rise to the surface, but then recede again below the depths before they could be recovered. That may have been enough of a spook to keep small children away—at least without parental supervision.
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| Blue Pond in 1913. Goodyear Blvd. just beyond the tree line - East Akron Cemetery mausoleum at upper right. |
Even to this day, there is a rumor that a train car came off the adjacent railroad track and tumbled into the Pond’s depths, never to be recovered. Again, there is no known basis for this story; it may have come about through the existence of some widely circulated pictures taken during the storm of 1913, which flooded the city and blew out the Little Cuyahoga throughout east Akron. About a mile north of Blue Pond, the rail lines were undercut and some train cars did fall into the river bed; the relation of the rail line to the water is somewhat similar and the areas resemble one another to some extent. It is possible that people may have looked at the photos and seeing the locations noted as “East Akron” - mistook one location for the other. It’s hard to say now.
Today, the biggest mystery surrounding Blue Pond is the safety and quality of its water. It was assumed that for years, some chemicals may have made their way into the pond from the Goodyear Research labs (right across N. Johns Ave.) – the spot was originally on EPA radar, but it was officially “archived” many years ago, which generally means that it poses no significant threat and that it is no longer subject to testing or monitoring. If it could be reclaimed as a useful body of water, Blue Pond could again be a great asset to the neighborhood.
One of the first things people often ask about The Linda Theater is how it got its name. The answer is pretty simple: local builder and developer Ernest Alessio named it after his daughter. Assisted in the design and construction by his sons Lino and Reno, Alessio created a landmark that is not only closely identified with the surrounding neighborhood, but known throughout Akron.
The stretch of land along Goodyear Boulevard where The Linda resides was always intended to be set aside for mixed use (commercial & retail) development; in fact original plans by Frank Seiberling’s architect show a large, attractive Tudor-style building with apartments above and shops at street level. Due to the recession of 1921, it was never built. Over the years, a number of small frame buildings appeared here, including some grocery stores and confectioners, hardware stores and a pharmacy. Goodyear Heights Baptist Church laid claim to the north end of the block.
After WWII, there was building boom in The Heights as GIs returned from the war. In 1948, Alessio purchased some properties on the block and built the Linda to serve the growing neighborhood. An experienced general contractor who built other Akron buildings like the Federal Building and the old Akron Library, Alessio designed The Linda himself after rejecting an expensive architect bid. Son Reno managed the theater for many years and daughter Linda served at the concession counter.
Opening night at The Linda was a big hit, featuring the film “Tap Roots” – starring Van Heflin and Susan Hayward. Billed as “Akron’s Newest & Most Modern Movie Theater” it featured 500 seats, an advanced projection system and of course—air conditioning.
For almost 7 decades, the theater has entertained generations of Goodyear Heights and Akron residents, and has been successfully operated by current owner Ted Bare for many years. The theater continues to play feature films after they have finished their initial runs at major show houses—which allows big savings on ticket prices. In 2008, the R.I.G.H.T. Committee hired Akron artist Brian Parsons to create a large mural on the east side of the building, facing the Boulevard. It features historical, architectural and scenic images of Goodyear Heights from the last 100 years.
After WWII, there was building boom in The Heights as GIs returned from the war. In 1948, Alessio purchased some properties on the block and built the Linda to serve the growing neighborhood. An experienced general contractor who built other Akron buildings like the Federal Building and the old Akron Library, Alessio designed The Linda himself after rejecting an expensive architect bid. Son Reno managed the theater for many years and daughter Linda served at the concession counter.
For almost 7 decades, the theater has entertained generations of Goodyear Heights and Akron residents, and has been successfully operated by current owner Ted Bare for many years. The theater continues to play feature films after they have finished their initial runs at major show houses—which allows big savings on ticket prices. In 2008, the R.I.G.H.T. Committee hired Akron artist Brian Parsons to create a large mural on the east side of the building, facing the Boulevard. It features historical, architectural and scenic images of Goodyear Heights from the last 100 years.
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