S’mores and canoes: How Akron is creating equitable and welcoming spaces at Summit Lake
Last month, Akron Civic Commons (the Reimagining the Civic Commons efforts located in Akron, Ohio) was honored to be named a finalist in the Civvy Awards. The fourth annual American Civic Collaboration Awards (Civvys) highlight outstanding efforts of civic collaboration making impacts in local, national and youth communities.
I was proud to nominate the Akron Civic Commons team for a Civvy Award, because I believe in this ongoing work that knits together isolated communities and people through collaborative co-creation of public spaces. This piece is adapted from that nomination.
In a nation still battling a pandemic, with Americans separated by increasing economic segregation, social isolation and distrust, Akron Civic Commons is focused on connecting people to each other across our geographic, economic, political and racial divides. Collaboration is at the heart of the work: since 2016, dozens of NGOs, local governments, philanthropy and community groups, and most importantly, hundreds of residents across three neighborhoods have come together and remain actively involved in the effort.
Akron Civic Commons’ diverse team is centered on using our collective work to achieve shared goals of creating engagement, equity, environmental sustainability and economic development through public space. This isn’t a story of public space for the sake of public space, but rather a model for how public space work can be a catalyst to bridge economic and racial divides and establish trust, where there was once only suspicion.
Along with investments in downtown Akron, Ohio & Erie Canal Park and the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail that connects them, a primary focus of Akron Civic Commons’ work has been the Summit Lake neighborhood — named for the glacial lake it borders.
A glacial lake that sits atop the Continental Divide, at the turn of the 20th century Summit Lake was an elite “million-dollar playground,” home to Summit Beach Park, an amusement park that featured a tile-lined shoreside pool. Yet even as people were flocking to the lake for fun and recreation, the rubber industry was using the lake as a dumping ground for its waste, leading local officials to deem it too polluted for human use. In the 1930s and 1940s, the neighborhood was redlined by lenders as a racist practice of ensuring segregation, and by the 1960s the neighborhood was geographically — and socially — cut off from the rest of the city by highway construction. Ongoing neglect and isolation led to concentrated poverty and a growing distrust of civic leaders in this Black-majority community, located only two miles south of downtown.
The result was a neighborhood where people believed the lake nearby was dangerous, and distrusted leaders from outside their community.
In 2016, Akron Civic Commons set out to change this dynamic. Working in partnership with residents and moving at what we call the “speed of trust,” in five short years the Akron Civic Commons team has catalyzed a transformation.
Moving at the speed of trust
I am the nominator of the Akron Civic Commons for the Civvy’s, yet I’m also a member of the team, working shoulder-to-shoulder with remarkable people across all three neighborhoods. All of us believe that to build a more equitable America, the country needs more places that intentionally connect people of all backgrounds, fostering much-needed empathy and understanding.
When Akron Civic Commons began five years ago, we purposefully set out to draw diverse people to Summit Lake, a place long neglected and stigmatized, thereby connecting Akron residents who would not normally encounter one another. We also committed to working in deep partnership — focusing on deep listening and co-creation with residents — and moving at the “speed of trust” — taking the time needed to create authentic relationships.
Through months of listening, Akron Civic Commons built these relationships with community members, many (if not most) of whom were initial skeptics about the work, and some of whom now serve as core team members and champions of the projects. As team convener Dan Rice, who is also head of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition, says: “We worked long and hard to build trust because in Summit Lake there was a long legacy of things being done ‘to’ the community and not ‘with’ the community; things being promised and not delivered.”
That’s why Akron Civic Commons started out with what the team calls “s’mores and canoes” in Summit Lake; small gatherings on the shore of Summit Lake that gave neighbors ways to explore the natural wonder right at their doorstep. These small, early gestures created trust, allowing the team to do more and bigger work — and to influence others to help co-create that work.
Co-creating with residents, the team piloted early, temporary improvements along Summit Lake’s shore: a new beachhead, barbecue grills, seating, tables and a nature play space. These early efforts were followed by more permanent investments: a seasonal shade canopy tested before installing a permanent picnic shelter, a pop-up nature center that informed the soon-to-be opened $2 million Summit Lake Nature Center. These physical improvements have been complemented by evolving programming designed for neighbors near and far — a weekly farmers market, kayak and canoe tours, fishing lessons for local kids, and fitness classes.
By working in partnership with Summit Lake neighbors, Akron Civic Commons has improved the perception of Summit Lake among residents and across the region. In 2019, the Akron Marathon route ran along the path Summit Lake that connects the neighborhood to downtown for the first time. A survey fielded about two years into the work found that 94 percent of visitors to Summit Lake believe that the nearby neighborhood has a bright future. Said one local resident of the project: “It brings in people from different parts of the city, even just for a temporary conversation.”
The work has also inspired structural change at the City of Akron, whose newly created Office of Integrated Development works within government and with community partners to advance equitable economic development through the prioritization of public spaces as critical infrastructure.
Akron Civic Commons’ co-creation approach brings everyone to the decision-making table, sharing power regardless of title or organizational stature. At our regular Akron Civic Commons monthly meetings, neighborhood resident Grace Hudson may sit right next to the City of Akron’s Deputy Mayor James Hardy, with all voices carrying equal weight. The flat organizational structure is creating opportunities for diverse people to work on building a better city.
This work in Akron is an example for other cities across the country of how to reconsider public spaces to promote inclusion, connection and civic healing. Its co-creation process is rebuilding trust among residents and changing how people and organizations work together for a more equitable Akron.
Today, people from across Akron are finding joy, beauty and community at Summit Lake, which is creating a new reputation for the largest lake in the city. At the same time, Summit Lake neighbors are being recognized as the community leaders they always were and a part of the Akron Civic Commons team working to improve their neighborhood. A $20 million capital campaign is nearing completion to invest $10 million in a signature park on the north shore of Summit Lake and $10 million to transform Lock 3 in Downtown Akron. Soon, the trust and relationships built through many small wins will be driving big changes in Akron.
Kyle Kutuchief is the Akron program director for the James L. and John S. Knight Foundation.
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a collaboration of The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and local partners.
