Dave Myers hadn’t spent much time at the renovated Lock 3 park in downtown Akron when he and two young companions rode through on bicycles Wednesday afternoon.
“Hey fellas, we’re going to take the zig-zag,” he called out behind him. In bright yellow jackets, they wove from South Main Street down toward the canal.
Myers plans to spend more time at Lock 3, which recently marked a year since it reopened, when the weather is nicer. Ice skating opened Friday, but the West Akron resident said festivals and other events are more his speed.
“It absolutely brings life downtown; it’s fun,” Myers said of the park’s reopening. “It’s just nice to have a city that has life rather than is closed down.”
The $17 million renovation project sought to do just that: Make Lock 3 an everyday destination instead of a place people only visit to see a concert. Winding pathways that follow the slope of the ground, a patio area with chairs and tables and landscaping that makes the canal itself more visible — patrons and planners alike say it’s had the desired effect.
Marge Klein, who owns the Peanut Shoppe across the street, said she often watches people eating lunch at Lock 3.
“I look over there and I think, doggone it, I should go over there and sit down,” she said.
The goal of the renovation was to turn the often-blocked-off park into Akron’s living room, said Kyle Kutuchief, the Akron program director for the Knight Foundation. He called it a home run project, saying he knew it had succeeded when he saw college students sunbathing in the park earlier this year as winter turned to spring.
From kids hanging out and taking pictures inside the giant 3 to downtown dwellers walking their dogs, Kutuchief said the range of uses has been “awesome.”
“I’m a super fan,” he said.
What changed at Lock 3?
The Lock 3 of yore was not welcoming, Kutuchief said — he described it as “an open grass area that didn’t really have any seating or shade.” There was a fence around it, and Kutuchief said walking through the original Lock 3 often felt like trespassing.
JohnPaul Antalek, a Cleveland resident who was back in Akron for Thanksgiving, remembers ice skating with his family at the old Lock 3. He liked that it was tucked away. “It was secluded enough that it was like its own little wonderland,” he said.
But that meant that it was only a destination when there was a concert.
“The design just didn’t naturally say, ‘Hey, come on in,’” said Kimberly Beckett, the president of the Downtown Akron Partnership. “It feels more accessible.”
That was intentional. The renovation, which closed the park for two summer seasons, created a patio that extends from the South Main Street sidewalk. It’s intended to draw people into the park itself. Those sloping sidewalks that lead down to the canal are less intimidating than tall stairs and make it easier for people to traverse. And plantings throughout the park are meant to create a relaxing environment.
“It’s this amazing transformation we’ve been waiting for,” said Howard Parr, the executive director of the Akron Civic Theatre. “Every day, I look out the window and see people walking outside like a park, which is the whole concept. You see people walking around all day long.”
That’s different from the old days of Lock 3, which first opened in 2003. Parr called the evolution of the park a 25-year, overnight success story. Prior to its opening and that of 7 17 Credit Union Park — formerly Canal Park — downtown Akron was a ghost town, he said.
Now, there’s a lot more life. One day this fall, Dan Rice was stopped in Lock 3 by four different people he knew, each one enjoying the space in a different way. Rice, the president and CEO of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition, said he takes a lot of pictures in the park. He’s seen people working, reading, exercising and simply walking through Lock 3.
The design that works so well is made up of elements requested by residents, he said. And Rice said the thoughtful construction acts like a magnet — it draws people in.
Is the renovation getting people to spend more money in downtown Akron?
Of course, part of the reason to draw people into downtown Akron is to get them to frequent Akron businesses and spend their money there.
The city hasn’t yet conducted an economic impact study for Lock 3, said Suzie Graham Moore, Akron’s director of economic development. But festivals and performances hosted by Lock 3 brought 130,000 people to the park this year, on top of those who came through outside of events.
Between May and September of 2026, Chris Griffith, Akron’s downtown operations manager, said he hopes to host 150,000 people at Lock 3. He wants to keep adding between 20,000 and 25,000 people for summer events annually and another 10,000 each winter.
Last year, there were 15,000 ice skaters, Griffith said. There were about 12,000 in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic and then construction, closed or moved skating out of Lock 3.
Cultural experiences like concerts and festivals drive people to spend money on food or other experiences downtown, said Beckett, with the Downtown Akron Partnership. And the improved design, which allows the transition from concert venue to ice rink to come more quickly, means the park can be used later into the season for events like November’s Smells Like Snow festival — giving a longer window for its usage, and for it to attract other spending. In the past, events would have stopped Labor Day weekend, so the stage could be broken down and the ice rink built.
Gregg Mervis, the president and CEO of the Akron/Summit Convention & Visitors Bureau, said when people come downtown for an event, they’re looking for ways they can park their car once and participate in multiple activities. They might want to stop for hot chocolate after they ice skate or walk through Lock 3 before a RubberDucks game. Because there’s no cost to go to the park, he said, going there is a way for people to stretch their dollars.
And, it means they’re spending them elsewhere downtown. Klein, at the Peanut Shoppe, said she gets lines out the door on summer Friday nights, when there’s a band at Lock 3.
“That pays the bills,” she said.
And she’s not the only one. Patrick Jaworski, the owner of Chill Ice Cream and Indulge Chocolates across the street from the park, said his business has nearly doubled since Lock 3 reopened.
“When they’re in front of here, people are looking around at other businesses,” Jaworski said. “One of the big reasons we wanted to come to this location is because of Lock 3. The concerts are huge for us.”
And his mother, Michelle Jaworski, who also works at the store, said the new park has drawn people downtown who wouldn’t come otherwise. Events like Pride and the Sakura Festival, both held at Lock 3, are great for business, she said.
Creating a sense of place in downtown Akron
The renovation has also led to more national acts being booked at Lock 3, Parr said. The Civic Theatre executive director expects between eight and 11 next year, up from four this year. The ticketed R&B singer Jeffrey Osborne was the most popular, and country acts also did well.
The Civic, right next door, sets up a bar to sell drinks for those shows, Parr said.
Even concerts that aren’t performing at Lock 3 can seize the opportunity to make use of it. At his October show at the Civic, John Batiste walked off the stage with his entire band and into the park, Parr said. Half the audience followed him.
Mervis, with the Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Lock 3’s distinctiveness helps increase Akron’s image and the unique sense of place here. It’s also intended to be a draw to help boost residential growth downtown.
The park can help have a ripple effect that brings more life to the whole area, said Kutuchief, with the Knight Foundation. Indeed, it already has. He looks forward to seeing more people coming in to enjoy the park before or after other events and making it a destination that people come to without a plan.
“We wanted an iconic public space in the heart of downtown Akron,” Kutuchief said of the Knight Foundation’s $5.5 million contribution to the project. “They completely delivered that.”
He said success requires constant refinement and Parr, Griffith and Moore all said they learned things this year about how to improve the experience of Lock 3. All expect the park to continue to evolve.
Patrons like Robynne McKee, who attended the Pizza Fest in Lock 3 over Labor Day weekend, said she already thought the park had improved since she saw Sheila E. perform there in 2015. While she hopes for the return of the National Hamburger Festival, she said she’s likely to attend other events — or just to take a look around — in the spring or summer.
“I think it’s lovely,” McKee said of the park. “I have no complaints.”