When the silos at Quaker Square were converted into a four-star Hilton in the early 1980's, it was said to be the most unique hotel in the world. Perhaps it is. The rooms are--of course--circular, each 24 feet in diameter. Older than the hotel is Quaker Square, a complex of shops and a restaurant. Only two shops remain and the restaurant is generally dead.

 

The silos were built in the 1930 for Quaker Oats and are on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

The entire complex has been sold to the University of Akron and will close in the coming months. It will really be the end of an era in Akron as they lose this one-of-a-kind attraction.

 

The view from my room:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The floorplan. Notice the number of cuts that had to be made in the concrete silos for the corridors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The restaurant features several old train cars; its not unique, but they are fun!

 

Some old lady who wouldn't get out of the way

 

 

 

And outside...

 

Certainly art deco-esque

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wow i dont think i've been there since i was a kid. thx for showing it to us before ua takes it over and its closed off to the public. the end of an interesting era indeed.

That one hits home... damn that's sad. I remember when I was 7 years old (this was 1979) and my parents took me to Quaker Square, when all four (five?) floors of the shopping complex were occupied and the whole place was bustling. They had everything from trendy boutiques to Asian imports to a coffee roaster (which was absolutely unheard of at the time). For a kid from small-town Appalachia, Quaker Square in its heyday was magical. That people would prefer to shop in the auto-riffic clusterf#ck of Fairlawn/Montrose at the expense of a place like Quaker Square is one of those things that makes me have little faith in the human race.

 

Sorry - this is a sore spot for me.

I remember when that place first opened. I think it was in 1979 or 1980, and the place was jammed with visitors when we went shortly after it opened. Of course, being a train guy, it was a great place to go, and it had a lot more train cars and locomotives than it does now. It also had Mac Lowry's huge O-guage layout relocated from Cuyahoga Falls.

 

There were plenty of shops, all very busy and the hotel was a wonder. I recall hearing people around us, obviously from Cleveland, asking why we couldn't have something like this in Cleveland.

 

I realize nothing lasts forever, but not making it to 30 years is a shame. You have to wonder what people think in Europe, the Pacific Rim and other places where hotels and marketplaces last hundreds of years through wars, disease and economic downturns. They must think we're a throwaway society. Guess what? They're right.

Well, atleast they kept the silos.  That's...uh...trendy.

I think Quaker Square's good times were fairly short. I visited it when it was new, around 1979, and it was fun and lively. There was a pizza place where you could watch the freight trains pass, and there was a crossing signal in the middle of the dining room. When a train approached, the lights would flash and the bell would ring.

 

On my next visit, around 1984 or 1985, the place was pretty dead. A lot of the stores were already vacant, and you could have shot a cannon through the place and not hit anyone. The way it looked then, I'm surprised it lasted this long.

 

In the early days of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, when they were still running steam, I think the trains terminated at Quaker Square. Then something like a washout or bridge failure caused them to cut back to Hale Farm.

I'm glad I got to see the inside of the hotel recently.  In all my years in Akron, I had never been past the banquet halls; the hotel is truley unique.  I used to love going to Quaker Square when I was a kid.  It's been sad seeing it empty out over the years.

 

That people would prefer to shop in the auto-riffic clusterf#ck of Fairlawn/Montrose at the expense of a place like Quaker Square is one of those things that makes me have little faith in the human race.

 

^ I couldn't agree more.

Ink, was the hotel still looking pretty good, or have they started to let it go?  I ask because I am going to see Chrissie Hynde in concert on Sept 15th and was thinking of staying there...but they are still charging a premium room rate (for Akron) of $130 or so.

 

Too bad this leaves Akron with ONE downtown Hotel!!  That's crazy, and the Radisson wants about $120.  There must be a market for hotels Downtown if they are able to charge those kind of rates in Akron....esp when the Montrose mess and other suburban hotels are considerably under $100.  Maybe someone will build a new hotel Downtown.

 

Nice pics too btw....I too went there as a kid and was amazed.  I take it the train layout is gone as well?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I also visited this building as a youngster (late '80s) and thought it was ultra rad. I'll admit, it's the only thing I think of about Akron. What a bunch of stupidasses we are in this country indeed.

 

Oh, and metrocity, there is no way to miss the irony of seeing a Chrissy Hynde show in this situation.

Ink, was the hotel still looking pretty good, or have they started to let it go?  I ask because I am going to see Chrissie Hynde in concert on Sept 15th and was thinking of staying there...but they are still charging a premium room rate (for Akron) of $130 or so.

 

The hotel was in great shape; everything was immaculate.

The entire complex has been sold to the University of Akron and will close in the coming months. It will really be the end of an era in Akron as they lose this one-of-a-kind attraction.

 

Wow, this is sad! I had no idea, a co-worker just stayed there a couple of weeks ago. What is UA planning to do with the property? 

It is sad that the building will no longer be open to the public, but its takeover by the university for student housing is certainly not all bad news. Having a growing university on the edge of its downtown is something that Akron should be very happy about. The newly expanded and recently reopened Akron Art Museum and the rebuilt and expanded downtown library are both within spitting distance of Quaker Square, so it is not only the university that is active in this district. Downtown Akron has a lot going for it, despite the many mistakes that were made there in the urban renewal era. It is only a few more good decisions away from becoming a happening place once again, which, one way or another, Quaker Square would still be an interesting part of.

I knew nothing of this place until now. That's pretty wild that converted that baby into a hotel.

Wow this is pretty sad, I went up there in the mid 80's with my parents to stay there for the weekend. What a great place to stay. I was just talking about Quaker Square with my wife not to long ago about taking a trip up there with our boys to stay there and see the train stuff. Damn.

OK, to start, I am a bit bias on this subject.  I understand that people are upset to see a landmark go, but I am glad to see UA acquire the property.  I first went to QS when I started at UA in the mid 90's.  It was dead, and even though it was a short walk from campus, I never went back until two years ago.  My Wife and I stayed there after a Zips game and had a great time downtown.  The hotel was dead and we didn't even venture over to the shops.  We spent most of our time in the establishments by Canal Park.  I agree that Akron should have more than one hotel downtown, but from what I saw, the complex was underutilized.

 

UA is growing by leaps and bounds.  Even though I graduated less than a decade ago, I don't recognize the place any more!  The amazing campus transformation has put UA in a position where they don't have enough dorm space.  Not only is enrollment up, but UA is going to be demolishing dorms to make way for the new on campus football stadium.  This meant UA had to come up with additional dorm space, above and beyond the new dorms that are just being completed!  IMO, there were two options for UA.  1) Quaker Square and 2) Mayflower.  Personally, I think the Mayflower would have been a better choice, but apparently the owners of QS were willing to sell.  UA even offered up some land so that new hotel could be built downtown to replace QS. 

 

  From the time I started and UA until now, Akron has done an amazing job at downsizing the city and adjusting to the loss of the rubber industry. I have seen countless buildings demolished or gutted and renovated in an effort to remake the city.  I see this as another chapter in that transformation of Akron. UA is driving change in the areas surrounding campus from the edge of Downtown to the Spicer Village project.  From what I've seen so far, it's doing a great job, and I firmly believe that a healthy University is a huge advantage for any city.

^I think we all generally agree.

 

The underutilization and closing of Quaker Square is what disappointing, the reuse of the building by UA is certainly preferrable over the building sitting vacant.

quakertastical

Too bad this leaves Akron with ONE downtown Hotel

Keep in mind, Akron has only had two downtown hotels since 1997. Radisson closed as a Holiday Inn in 1989 or so.

 

That people would prefer to shop in the auto-riffic clusterf#ck of Fairlawn/Montrose at the expense of a place like Quaker Square is one of those things that makes me have little faith in the human race.

 

Sorry - this is a sore spot for me.

 

I worked at the other downtown hotel for two years before I moved to Pitt...and let me tell you, you hit the nail on the head. One of the biggest problems we used to have was a lack of downtown retail and recognizable chain restaurants (many out of towners refused to eat at local places). If people wanted to shop, we would have to send them to Fairlawn or Cuy Falls. During Soap box Derby time, the hotels there were in higher demand because of their close proximity to Wal-Mart, Denny's and Applebee's. Because of this, the downtown hotel market is extremely soft 1/2 of the year-there are just too many rooms.

 

Wow, this is sad! I had no idea, a co-worker just stayed there a couple of weeks ago. What is UA planning to do with the property? 

It is slated to become a full-fledged residence hall in 2009. In the winter of 2008, half of the building will become a residence hall while the other half remains a hotel run by UA until the city utilizes that new land swapped from UA to City of Akron to attract a new downtown hotel. The retail/food operations are to remain, just run by UA. Knowing the increasing population of on-campus students, I would think they'll want to put in MORE retail-and if the exchange hall is an indicator, this may happen.

 

Yes, but Akron still has an airport.

wow, sad indeed, and I think this leaves the CBD of Akron with just one hotel. Even downtown Toledo has five hotels (three family/tourist/business hotels and two hook-up/prostitute/drug hotels).

 

I'm surprised you even know about those three.

It is slated to become a full-fledged residence hall in 2009. In the winter of 2008, half of the building will become a residence hall while the other half remains a hotel run by UA until the city utilizes that new land swapped from UA to City of Akron to attract a new downtown hotel. The retail/food operations are to remain, just run by UA. Knowing the increasing population of on-campus students, I would think they'll want to put in MORE retail-and if the exchange hall is an indicator, this may happen.

 

I see this as good news. From what I've been reading here and on other sites, this shopping plaza was pretty much dead fairly early on, although the hotel lived on. With the conversion into student housing, future retail and dining tenants are guaranteed a steady population of students, and I assume that it is located near campus, so that it will benefit even more from cross-traffic. I can see student-oriented retail and dining establishments occupying the former shopping center.

^

Akron U is just across the railroad cutting, right next to downtown.  I think the original campus was a few blocks away from downtown, but the campus grew in that direction and is now right next to downtown.

 

Inks pix bring back memories of my Akron/Youngstown vacation from back in the 1990s.  My goal was to stay in Youngstown, but no downtown hotel, so I opted for this Quaker place instead, and it doesnt look like it changed much, either. 

 

Akron is actually a city I would like to really analyze, sort of like with those lengthy Dayton posts, but the place is just too far for me.  It just is a really juicy place, in term of urban history and industrial development.