Frank Hyde Waters and his wife, Cora, shared a passion for gardening and landscape design, their North Hill-area home serving as the ultimate canvas.
In 1893, the couple built an eclectic, Colonial Revival house off of Glenwood Avenue, overlooking downtown Akron. Cora created a beautiful garden on the estate, while Frank laid the walks and driveways. He also planted trees and shrubs.
Around this time, the neighborhood lacked public water, so the Waters drilled a well and built a water tower to serve the property.
When Frank died in 1933 — preceded in death by his wife and their daughter, Mary Waters Sneddon, the property was willed to the City of Akron.
According to a Dec. 5, 1933, article in the Akron Beacon Journal, Waters required in his bequest that the city transform the property into a tuberculosis clinic or a public playground (his daughter died in 1923 from tuberculosis). Because the city already had the Springfield Lake Sanitorium and a tuberculosis clinic on Locust Street, mayor-elect I.S. Myers decided a playground was the better choice.
At that time, Akron enjoyed few public recreational spaces. Myers planned to construct slides, swings, tennis courts and a wading pool as soon as the property transfer was complete. However, local media coverage of the project cited legal complications, which delayed construction until 1936.
The Waters’ house was eventually remodeled into a community center. A memorial, surrounded by a flower garden, was erected in memory of the family. It cost $1,252, or about $27,500 in today’s dollars — the memorial is still standing.
On Sept. 15, 1937, Waters Park was officially dedicated. The Works Progress Administration provided $17,000 for the construction; the city paid $3,000.
A stone and concrete amphitheater was constructed to seat 500 people.
During the early years, park maintenance was overseen by J. McKinney, a caretaker who planted more than 25 varieties of roses on the site. In 1940, summer concerts were held at the amphitheater on Thursday and Friday evenings.
By 1965, shuffleboard courts had been built near the old Waters house. And the Akron Shuffleboard Club made the park its headquarters. (The club continues to meet at the park on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.)
Waters Park remained a popular gathering place for neighborhood children and clubs renting the old Waters house for meetings, lunches and other gatherings. It also served as a popular wedding venue. By the 1970s, though, park use began to decline.
To spur renewed interest, the entrance was moved from Glenwood Avenue to the more accessible Olive Street. The old driveway remained but was chained off. In 1974, the Beacon Journal reported that a temporary parking lot was built over a portion of the park to serve as overflow for St. Thomas Hospital. This was eventually replaced by tennis courts. According to historic photographs, the wading pool was removed around 1975.
No longer a popular rental location, the house was converted to an administrative office; by 1981, it was razed. Ken Nichols wrote that year in the Beacon Journal: “But the park has never reached the position envisioned by the donor and probably never will unless it is given stronger backing by the city and community groups.”
The small parking lot near the shuffleboard group’s clubhouse was built over a portion of the house’s original footprint. In 1982, the Beacon Journal covered the dedication of a veterans’ memorial in the park’s northwest corner.
The bones of the Waters estate remain, from the main driveway and stairs from Glenwood Avenue to the North Main Street pillars and staircase as well as multiple walking paths. Tennis courts at Waters Park are now available for pickleball daily from 7 a.m. until sundown.
Excluding the shuffleboard and pickleball courts, Waters Park has fallen into disrepair. The amphitheater stage is crumbling. The stairway from Glenwood Avenue and a concrete viewing platform on the hillside are no longer structurally sound. The park used to boast one of the best views in the city, overlooking the Little Cuyahoga River valley, the All-America “Y-Bridge” and downtown.
This view is now obstructed with trees.
In 2022, the North Hill Community Development Corporation formed the Friends of Waters Park and began collaborating with Akron TorchBearers in hopes of restoring and revitalizing the property. Proposals and a survey about the project can be viewed on the group’s website. Future plans include improving the old viewpoint, constructing street soccer courts and shelters and expanding parking.