With the winter weather in the rearview mirror and long summer nights ahead, City of Akron officials and Highland Square business owners are restricting some street parking as they prepare for the weekend nights that have drawn big crowds of people, and sometimes violence, to the nightlife district.
“I need to be real with you: We have a culture of respect and care to re-establish in this district, and it’ll take all of us to do so,” wrote Ward 1 City Council Member Fran Wilson, who represents the area, in an email on Friday morning as they announced changes to street parking and the addition of private security.
“This decision was made in response to long-standing issues regarding parked-car-partying outside of bars and some visitors partying in ways that have impacted the wellbeing of others.”
As of Friday, thick concrete barricades sat in the metered street parking spots on the south side of the block in front of the businesses from Barmacy Bar & Grill at the east end extending westward nearly to Square Nightclub. There are no street parking spaces across from this closed section, including in front of Ray’s Pub and Mr. Zub’s Deli & Bar — effectively, there will be no street parking in this stretch.
The busy retail strip was the site of a late-night shootout last year in October among people hanging out in and around vehicles parked outside the bars.
Timothy Hutchinson, a recent University of Akron graduate, was shot in the crossfire and died.
Akron Police Chief Brian Harding told nearby residents days later that the department was understaffed and that the officers on duty were responding to a West Akron murder-suicide when bar owners called police to warn of people with guns in the leadup to the shooting.
Private security agents, who the city says will coordinate with Akron Police officers, also began their weekend night patrols on Friday. They “will assist with mitigating illegal open container activity in the area.”
The street parking barricades and private security agents are two of the first initiatives under the new Highland Square Special Improvement District. The initiative pools money from business owners to pay for public services beyond what tax money alone can provide. City and business owners were already discussing the plan when the October 2025 killing occurred.
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik told residents after the shooting that the weekend nightlife in Highland Square “may require additional resources beyond what any other neighborhood might require.”
On Friday, he released a statement on the parking and security decisions: “This work reflects a shared commitment to the Highland Square neighborhood and the people who live, work, and spend time here,” Malik said.
“By taking thoughtful, proactive steps, we are helping create a safer, more accessible environment that benefits the entire community.”
