Off-Site Venues
Fourteen full-service hotels in the downtown area offer meeting spaces of their own and are considered “next in line in size” to the Knight Center, according to Mahon.
For a change of pace, some planners opt to have meetings at the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, located on 70 acres in Akron. One of the largest homes in the country, Hywet Hall was completed 99 years ago for F.A. Seiberling, founder of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.
Another meeting venue that’s always on the move is the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, which runs through nearby Cuyahoga Valley National Park. “A lot of our meeting planners use the train as a meeting venue for board retreats,” said Mahon.
Akron’s meeting strength is regional events. It typically hosts about 180 events a year, many for more than one day. “There are very few dark days here at the John. S. Knight Convention Center,” said Mahon.
Off-Hours Entertainment
Cuyahoga Valley National Park straddles the Cuyahoga River between Akron and Cleveland. It is Ohio’s only national park and one of the top 10 most visited in the nation. Lucky are the area residents who can enjoy a national park that is so close to an urban area. Many hop on a bike and pedal from downtown Akron right into the 33,000-acre park.
The Ohio and Erie Canal’s Towpath Trail is a restored portion of the original towpath that is great for hiking, running and biking. The Canal Exploration Center displays the area’s 19th-century waterway history. For those who enjoy thundering and misty waterfalls, the park’s Brandywine Falls delivers.
Visitors can board the scenic railroad at, among other places, the Northside Station right behind the new Courtyard Akron Downtown.
Akron celebrates the arts through the Ohio Ballet, the Akron Symphony Orchestra, Akron Civic Theater and the Thomas Performing Arts Hall, where the schedule includes Broadway plays and national and international stars. The Akron Art Museum has a fine collection of modern art in a “stunning building that was tripled in size 10 years ago,” said Mahon.Baseball lovers will enjoy the new state-of-the-art Canal Park on Main Street, home of the Akron RubberDucks, a AA-level affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Other sports teams to follow are the Akron Racers professional softball team and the the University of Akron Zips football and basketball teams.. The Akron Zoo reminds guests of the wonders of the animal kingdom and nature around the world.
The Loral Airlock, the enormous hangar where Goodyear once built its famous blimps, is one of the world’s largest buildings without any supports. Twenty-two stories high, it is so large that four football games could be played there at once, and rain showers have been known to develop spontaneously inside.
Among Akron’s other tourist attractions are Hale Farm and Village, a reconstructed village from the 1850s that depicts the westward movement through Ohio; the American Toy Marble Museum; and the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous, the Akron home of Dr. Bob (Dr. Robert Smith), who, with stockbroker Bill Wilson, founded AA in 1935.
Akron, Ohio
Location: Northeast Ohio
Access: Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Akron-Canton Airport, I-76, I-77, I-277
Major Meeting Spaces: John S. Knight Convention Center, Greystone Hall, Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens
Hotel Rooms: 70 hotels and 5,700 rooms
Offsite Venues: Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, Hale Farm and Village
Contact Info:
Greater Akron-Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau
800-245-4254
