Heintz Hillcrest Park is the winner of the 2026 Akron Parks Challenge, Mayor Shammas Malik announced during his State of the City address on Tuesday. Located in Akron’s Firestone Park neighborhood, it will receive $150,000 from the City of Akron for improvements.
Akron Parks Collaborative and the group of applicants who submitted on behalf of Heintz Hillcrest Park will discuss, prioritize and implement the improvements.
“I’m really excited, obviously, that Heintz Hillcrest Park was picked,” said Akron City Council Member Donnie Kammer, whose ward covers the Firestone Park area.
“I really would’ve liked two parks to be selected because it brings the community together.”
The Ward 7 park has applied several times in the past and advanced to the finalist round in recent years.
The park’s application stood out from the other applicants and the runner-up, Tyro-Moody Mini Park in Ellet, because of its inclusion of Firestone Park residents in the process, said Bridget Ambrisco, executive director of the Akron Parks Collaborative.
Heintz Hillcrest Park’s application this year was driven by wanting to create a welcoming space for frequent and new park-goers.
“We wish we can support all of them, but this year they really stood out with getting additional organizations involved and really having a vision to include the neighborhood in the process as a whole,” Ambrisco said.
What Heintz Hillcrest park-goers asked for
Heintz Hillcrest Park is located on the lower end of Brown Street at its intersection with East Dresden Avenue. Earlier this month, after it was announced that Heintz Hillcrest was a finalist, residents of Firestone Park had the opportunity to weigh in on suggestions for its improvements during a walking tour with Akron Parks Collaborative board members, Friends of Firestone Park and Kammer.
The application for Heintz Hillcrest Park, led by a few members of Friends of Firestone Park and some residents, asked for additions like a teenage playground area and small fixes such as improvements to the Little Free Library.
Other asks on the list included:
- Updated entrance signage.
- Landscaping improvements.
- Native fruit trees and plants.
- Public art to reflect the neighborhood.
- Purple Martin birdhouses
- Better seating in areas of the park, including seating next to the permanent cornhole game and improved benches.
- Disc golf course.
- Signage near exercise equipment explaining how to use it.
- A story walk.
Past winners such as Waters Park in North Hill and Karona Park in the Merriman Valley added improvements that included a multi-sport area at Waters and a walking path at Karona.
About the Parks Challenge
Since 2018, the Akron Parks Collaborative typically selects two to three parks each year to receive improvement funds from the city — this is the second year the collaborative has selected only one winner of the challenge, the first being in 2023 when Morgan Park was the sole recipient.
The goal of the Akron Parks Challenge is to create active and vibrant public spaces.
Before renovations and construction can begin, Akron Parks Collaborative, Friends of Firestone Park and residents will determine which developments will be the priority.
To collect feedback, the City of Akron and the Akron Parks Collaborative will begin working on surveys that will be shared with the community through social media, in-person at local schools and at Firestone Park Branch Library, which also contributed to the application.
Capital improvements designed by the neighborhoods could begin in a year but typically take two years to be completed.
For more information on the Akron’s Park Challenge, please visit akronparks.org.
