Quaker Square
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox building
|name = Quaker Square
|image = Quaker Square, 2019.jpg
|image_size = 250px
|caption =
|location = 135 South Broadway Street, University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, United States
|coordinates =
|roof =
|floor_count =
|building_type = Student Residence
|completion_date = 1932
|opening = 1975
|closing_date = 2022
|architect =
|developer =
|nrhp = {{Infobox NRHP
| name = Quaker Oats Cereal Factory
| embed = yes
| nrhp_type =
| image =
| caption =
| location = 135 South Broadway Street, Akron, Ohio
| coordinates = {{coord|41|4|52|N|81|30|54|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Ohio#USA
| built = 1886
| architecture =
| added = December 8, 1978
| area = {{convert|4|acre|sigfig=1}}
| refnum = 78002195{{NRISref|version=2009a}}
}}
}}
Quaker Square was a shopping and dining complex located in downtown Akron, Ohio which is now used by the University of Akron. Quaker Square was the original Quaker Oats factory; the complex consists of the former mill, factory, and silos. The buildings were bought in the early 1970s by developers who sought to create a unique, useful home for shops and restaurants. The buildings were bought by the University of Akron in 2007. The hotel has been converted to a residence hall. The retail space consisted of dozens of small shops and restaurants, and there were large areas of historic exhibits on such areas as the local Quaker industry and history of radio in Akron, while offices were on the floors above. Quaker Square was open to the general public until September 18, 2015. After that, the hotel no longer accepted reservations as the former hotel rooms and the entire complex began to be operated exclusively for student and university use.{{cite web|last1=Biliczky|first1=Carol|title=Akron's landmark Quaker Square hotel to close Sunday|url=http://www.ohio.com/news/local/akron-s-landmark-quaker-square-hotel-to-close-sunday-1.409249|website=ohio.com|access-date=2013-07-01|archive-date=2013-07-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130701034503/http://www.ohio.com/news/local/akron-s-landmark-quaker-square-hotel-to-close-sunday-1.409249|url-status=live}} The University fully vacated the facility by 2022 and ultimately sold it in 2025.
History
The Quaker Oats company was formed by the merger of several businesses, one was the Akron-based German Mills American Oatmeal Company founded by Ferdinand Schumacher. Schumacher's facility, first built in 1872, was destroyed by fire in 1886, then was rebuilt at the same location. Those buildings formed the basis of the Quaker Oats Cereal Factory. The complex consisted of cereal production facilities, warehouses, and rail-siding sheds.{{cite web| url = http://sc.akronlibrary.org/files/2011/11/78002195.pdf| title = National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form: Quaker Oats Cereal Factory| access-date = 2015-02-08| author = Richard C. Foran| publisher = National Park Service| date = January 10, 1978| archive-date = 2015-11-22| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151122215740/http://sc.akronlibrary.org/files/2011/11/78002195.pdf| url-status = live}} Quaker Oats built 36 grain silos on the site in 1932. Each silo was 120 feet tall and 24 feet in diameter, and together they housed {{convert|1,500,000|USbsh|L}} of grain.{{Cite web |url=http://www.quakersquare.com/quakerhistory.html |title=Crown Plaza Quaker Square History |access-date=2007-08-17 |archive-date=2007-09-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070913093814/http://www.quakersquare.com/quakerhistory.html |url-status=live }}
The complex is now the only remaining visual reminder of what was once Akron's largest single employer. Quaker Oats terminated production in Akron in 1970. The entire complex was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Mall
The facility was repurposed in March 1973, and reopened April 1, 1975, with four shops and an ice cream parlor.{{cite news|first=Mark J.|last=Price|title=Local history: Remember Quaker Square? Architect recalls debut 50 years ago|url=https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/2025/03/29/architect-ted-curtis-recalls-quaker-squares-debut-50-years-ago/82650422007/|work=Akron Beacon Journal|date=March 29, 2025|access-date=March 30, 2025}}
The silos were converted into a Hilton Hotel which opened in 1980.{{Cite web|url=http://www.uakron.edu/news/articles/uamain_1801.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207224455/http://www.uakron.edu/news/articles/uamain_1801.php |url-status=dead |title=University of Akron News – UA Buys Quaker Square Complex|archive-date=February 7, 2012}} Later it became a Crowne Plaza hotel. The hotel was built into the suite of silos and is famed for its 196 completely round rooms. The facility also included a restaurant themed with railroads and the Quaker Square General Store, as well as other retail establishments.
The property contains many Don Drumm sculptures.{{cite news|first=Patrick|last=Williams|title=Don Drumm revisits artistry that made Quaker Square hotel an experience like no other|url=https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/entertainment/arts/2025/05/31/sculptor-craftsman-don-drumm-reconnects-with-art-inside-quaker-square-akron-ohio-redevelopment-group/83791286007/|work=Akron Beacon Journal|date=May 31, 2025|access-date=May 31, 2025|url-access=subscription}}
Purchase by University of Akron
In mid-June 2007 the University of Akron bought the complex for $22,679,000 with plans to convert it into student housing and office space. The university planned to house more than 400 students in the converted hotel starting with the 2008 spring semester.{{cite web|url=http://downtownakron.com/pages/about06/news-releases/Newsrelease62.html |title=About Downtown Akron Partnership |access-date=August 19, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930032108/http://downtownakron.com/pages/about06/news-releases/Newsrelease62.html |archive-date=September 30, 2007 }} In January 2008, the university began to use the upper floors of the hotel as a residence hall.
Under contract with UA, RDA Management of Fairlawn operated 95 hotel rooms on the four bottom floors of the silos for the following two years. The university agreed to keep those rooms available to the public for that period to give the city an opportunity to secure more hotel space for downtown visitors and tourists. On June 30, 2013 the hotel was closed and converted entirely into student housing. The last of the shops at Quaker Square, as well as Trackside, closed in 2016. The only remaining store was a Zee's store which is a convenience store for students to buy groceries and snacks.{{cite web|title=UA to close last remaining stores inside Quaker Square, General Store and NewsStand Comics|access-date=August 18, 2015|url=http://www.ohio.com/akron/writers/betty-linfisher/ua-to-close-last-remaining-stores-inside-quaker-square-general-store-and-newsstand-comics|archive-date=August 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828134620/http://www.ohio.com/akron/writers/betty-linfisher/ua-to-close-last-remaining-stores-inside-quaker-square-general-store-and-newsstand-comics|url-status=live}} In August 2018, Zee's moved to the lobby of UA's Quaker Hall, leaving the retail portion empty. That side of the complex housed offices on the second, third, and fourth floors. After the 2018 spring semester, the dorimtory was closed after it was discovered that the rooms had fallen into significant disrepair. At the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic in March 2020, the former dormitory was used to quarantine students that were unable to leave campus if infected. By the end of the pandemic in 2022, the remaining rooms were no longer used, leaving the facility empty.{{cite web | url=https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/local/2023/12/07/5-vacant-buildings-downtown-akron-city-center-hotel-citicenter-quaker-square-beacon-journal-morley/71727958007/ | title=Akron Beacon Journal Subscription Offers, Specials, and Discounts }}
Sale to new ownership
The University of Akron announced on March 12, 2025, that they were selling the entire complex.{{cite news|title=University of Akron confirms buyer under contract to take over Quaker Square property|date=March 12, 2025|work=Akron Beacon Journal|access-date=March 12, 2025|url=https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/local/2025/03/12/university-of-akron-selling-quaker-square-for-undisclosed-sum-oats-hotel-station-retail-dining/82312568007/}} {{as of|May 2025}} a group of investors including former Akron mayor Don Plusquellic and internet celebrity and area native Kyle Craven plans to renovate and reopen the complex.{{cite news|first=Patrick|last=Williams|title=Quaker Square reimagined: From hotel to food market, what's next for iconic Akron complex?|url=https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/local/2025/05/01/the-opportunities-are-endless-developers-ideas-for-quaker-square/83059792007/|work=Akron Beacon Journal|date=May 1, 2025|access-date=May 5, 2025|url-access=subscription}}{{cite news|first=Patrick|last=Williams|title=5 questions with Kyle Craven, face of Bad Luck Brian meme in talks to buy Quaker Square|url=https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/lifestyle/features/2025/05/05/where-is-bad-luck-brian-now-meet-face-behind-the-meme-kyle-craven/83373212007/|work=Akron Beacon Journal|date=May 5, 2025|access-date=May 5, 2025|url-access=subscription}}
Gallery
File:Quaker Oats factory, Akron.jpg|Quaker Square, 1979.
Image:QuakerSquareSW.JPG|Known then as The Crowne Plaza Quaker Square hotel and Quaker Square Inn)
Image:TheQuakerKing.JPG|National Historic Place seal.
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{{anchor|Amtrak station}}
Former Amtrak station
{{Infobox station
| style=Amtrak
| name=Akron, OH
| image=File:Akron - Amtrak.jpg
| image_caption=Former Akron Amtrak station.
| address=96 East Bowery Street, Akron, Ohio
| coordinates= {{coord|41|04|48|N|81|30|56|W}}
| line=
| platform=1 (former)
| tracks=2
| pass_system=Amtrak
| opened=November 10, 1990
August 10, 1998
| closed=September 10, 1995
March 7, 2005
| code=AKO
| owned=Amtrak
| other_services_header=Former services
| other_services= {{Adjacent stations|system1=Amtrak
|line1=Three Rivers|left1=Fostoria|right1=Youngstown|note-mid1=1998–2005
|line2=Broadway Limited|left2=Fostoria|right2=Youngstown|note-mid2=1990–1995
}}
}}
Akron station, located at Quaker Square, was served by Amtrak passenger trains during the 1990s and 2000s.
The former Akron Union Station, slightly to the south, was closed in 1971 when Amtrak did not include a Washington-Chicago train on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) as part of its initial route structure.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HyZV2cW4-jIC&pg=PA93 |title=Akron Railroads |first=Craig |last=Sanders |page=93 |via=Google Books |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=9780738541419 |access-date=2018-10-13 |archive-date=2021-10-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008200604/https://books.google.com/books?id=HyZV2cW4-jIC&pg=PA93 |url-status=live }} On November 10, 1990, the Broadway Limited was rerouted from the ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Fort Wayne Line to the ex-B&O. Union Station had been reused by the University of Akron; Amtrak used part of the former platform and constructed a modular station building at Quaker Square.{{cite web |url=https://csanders429.wordpress.com/2016/12/21/ex-amtrak-station-frozen-in-time-in-akron/ |title=Ex-Amtrak Station Frozen in Time in Akron |first=Craig |last=Sanders |date=December 21, 2016 |work=Amtrak in the Heartland}}
The New York-Chicago Broadway Limited was replaced with the New York-Pittsburgh Three Rivers on September 10, 1995, ending service to Akron. The Three Rivers was extended to Chicago through Akron on November 10, 1996; however, Amtrak and the city disagreed over who would pay for necessary repairs to the station. Akron station reopened on August 10, 1998 – the last of several ex-Broadway stops to be restored.{{Sanders-Heartland}}{{rp|35}} The Three Rivers was cut back to Pittsburgh as the Pennsylvanian on March 7, 2005, ending service to Akron again.
{{Clear}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [http://cleveland.about.com/od/akronattractions/p/quakersquare.htm Quaker Square] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203143010/http://cleveland.about.com/od/akronattractions/p/quakersquare.htm |date=2009-02-03 }}, about.com
- {{HAER |survey=OH-17 |id=oh0120 |title=Quaker Oats Cereal Factory, Southeast corner of Broadway & Mill Streets, Akron, Summit County, OH |photos=23 |data=8 |cap=2}}
{{Amtrak Ohio stations}}
{{University of Akron}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
Category:Agricultural buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
Category:Agricultural buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places
Category:Buildings and structures in Akron, Ohio
Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Ohio
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Summit County, Ohio
Category:University and college residential buildings in Ohio
Category:University of Akron buildings and structures
Category:Former Amtrak stations in Ohio
Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1990
Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1998
Category:Railway stations in the United States closed in 1995
Category:Railway stations in the United States closed in 2005