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Akron Mayor Shammas Malik: 'A new era' for downtown coming with reopening of Lock 3

The grand reopening celebration for downtown Akron's Lock 3 will take place on Friday, Nov. 29. The redevelopment of the park cost $17 million.

AKRON, Ohio — A lot of new and exciting things are being built in Akron right now, everything from world-class performance pavilions to community centers. 

Akron Mayor Shammas Malik held a press conference Thursday to break it all down.

Malik announced that the city is three weeks away from their grand reopening celebration of Lock 3 Park. He proudly said that over the last few years, officials have worked to transform Lock 3 from a summertime festival concert venue to a 365-day-a-year park.

“We are ushering in a new era for downtown Akron with the transformation of Lock 3,” the mayor stated.

City leaders have spent almost $17 million dollars redeveloping the park, the project primarily funded using American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

Improvements include shaded seating, landscaped gardens, artwork, skating areas, and a world-class performance pavilion.

Credit: Ohio and Erie Canalway Coalition

The city will be hosting a grand reopening celebration at the park on Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. There will be a ribbon cutting with music, ice sculpting, ice skating, and the city's first ever live drone show.

"It is a world-class facility and I think part of this is kind of the recognition that we deserve nice things too, right?" Malik said. "Akron residents deserve world-class facilities and so this facility really is for everyone, and so we want to make it a welcoming space, an inviting space."

Credit: Kenmore Construction

After that, the mayor announced a ribbon cutting for the newly renovated Ed Davis Community Center on Dec. 5th at 5:30 p.m., which includes a new gymnasium, indoor walking track, teen room, and outdoor playground.

Also, Akron Fire's newly built Station 12 on Hawkins Ave will have an open house on November 16 and 17.

Lastly, Malik and the city's Director of Public Service Chris Ludle discussed the new Akron Leaf Removal online dashboard where people can see when leaves will be picked up in their ward.

Malik also reacted to the news of an agreement being reached for the acquisition of Akron-based Summa Health by General Catalyst’s Health Assurance Transformation LLC (HATCo).

RELATED: HATCo, Summa Health sign definitive agreement for acquisition: Here's what it means

"I'm happy to see the process proceeding," he said. "What I see in this deal is an entity that is willing to put a lot of investment into the future of Summa and to make commitments not to reduce staffing, to keep the charity care component. I've been heartened by what I've seen so far. But as for the regulatory side, we'll leave that to the Ohio Attorney General, to the Department of Insurance to really go through that process.”

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