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`Fun, funky' gem serious on future
Highland Square free spirits work on keeping their area vibrant, attractive and full of youth

By Katie Byard and Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal staff writers

Highland Square is a state of mind. Oh, you can get the locals to try to draw borders around it. They'll point you to the lively collection of shops and restaurants flanking the venerable Highland Theatre, and steer you through some dramatically diverse residential streets. But geography is an afterthought. Far more likely, the mention of Highland Square will elicit adjectives. Intellectual. Pedestrian. Artistic. Political. Funky. Soulful. Residents here see themselves as a bohemian village where porches are an important place of communication and activism a requirement for citizenship. If you step inside Angel Falls coffeehouse and bury yourself in an oversized chair for an hour, you may spot a disheveled rocker exchanging views with a business suit, and the owner of a Rolls Royce chatting up the guy who rode in on a beat-up bicycle. ``It's very eclectic, which is a polite word for crazy, mixed up, a complete mishmash of everything,'' Angel Falls co-owner Jim King said. Um, is he talking about Angel Falls, or Highland Square? Both.

Different world

At the beginning of the 20th century, the free-spirited square was developed by people of means who put up beautiful, well-built homes and luxury apartment buildings. Then many of them left for the suburbs when the age of opulence had passed. The working class moved in to fill the void. Some homes too large to care for on a smaller budget were divided into rental units, and the once homogenous area began to mix racially, socially and economically. The 2000 census offers other insights into this unique area. There are twice as many college grads here as the city average. And nearly half the homes and apartments have a single occupant. While the area brings together some of the poorest and richest folks in the city, the neighborhood as a whole enjoys an income greater than most other Akron neighborhoods. Housing values rank fifth out of 21. But residents will also tell you that not all of Highland Square is created equally. They often refer to the area north of West Market Street as the ``good side.'' On the south side, neighbors complain of the growing number of rentals and talk of crime. ``We're a different world on this side and nobody pays attention to us,'' said Kate Kellner, who lives in a 90-year-old home on Grand Avenue. ``My house on the north side would sell for $145,000. On my side, I might get $75,000.'' Kellner settled in Highland Square because it reminded her of where her grandparents lived outside Philadelphia. She also liked that she could walk to everything she needed. But now there are 11 rental properties on her street. ``People don't want to move next to rental houses,'' she said. Barb Snyder, a real estate agent who is continuing mom Elsie Snyder's legacy of preserving and promoting Highland Square, said she has seen ``astronomical'' differences in properties across the street from each other. But the gap is narrowing, she said. If it is, residents can pat themselves on the back. Consider Victorian Village, a slice of the south side with lovely homes and curvy brick streets that has come under the care of the West Hill Neighborhood Organization. Don Climes recalled marveling at the hidden enclave when he found it taking a shortcut. ``I couldn't find it again for years,'' he laughed. Now he lives in a large brick home with a comfortable porch for entertaining neighbors. He also heads the West Hill group, which organizes an annual event to attract outsiders. On Saturday, it brought four jazz bands to Glendale Cemetery. Last year, it led the effort to get the area on the National Register of Historic Places; Victorian Village became the city's first residential historical district. And this year, City Hall heard its collective voice and took steps to enforce a zoning code that will stop people from converting the grand old homes into multifamily units. ``We're not against rental, but it's hard to improve the quality of life in a neighborhood when their number keeps growing,'' said Jane Startzman, another group officer. What the council did ``will help property values stabilize.''

Apartment living

Highland Square has the densest collection of apartment buildings in the city. Almost six in 10 residents rent. That density of population, city planners say, contributes to Highland Square's success as a pedestrian neighborhood, supporting a grocery store, cafes and mom-and-pop retail that probably wouldn't have survived in another Akron area. Two apartment buildings have become recent conversation pieces. Nela Manor Apartments, once fashionable upscale garden apartments, is now a federally subsidized complex. It is also notorious for drug dealing and prostitution. But the only activity passers-by will see now at the corner of Market and Rhodes Avenue is masons repointing the brick work. The apartments were purchased by the Community Health Center ,formerly the Community Drug Board, which has begun a $3.6 million restoration. The 35 units will remain subsidized when they reopen in December, but Health Center spokesman Ed Carter said the agency ``is going to do our best to correct (the slide of recent years) and make sure tenants there are not involved in illicit activities. Since we're the southeast anchor of Highland Square development, we hope to change the complexion of that whole area.'' The other apartment building on people's minds is Highland Tower, which opened 40 years ago as posh accommodations featuring a doorman, maid service, servants to wash the cars and a putting green on the roof. The owners approached the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, which is now considering buying the building at 900 W. Market St. AMHA said it may buy the nine-story building for about $3 million and invest an additional $5 million into rehabilitating it. AMHA envisions it as a complex for low-income seniors. Building manager Tim Merryweather said ``elevator apartments'' such as the tower have to compete against more popular low-rise apartments and town homes. The tower is expensive to maintain, he said, and the $750 monthly rent he must charge for a two-bedroom unit makes it hard to fill the building, which has a 15 percent vacancy rate. But the idea of a seniors-only high-rise next to the most vibrant part of the neighborhood makes Kellner grimace. ``Highland Square is a fun and funky area'' and a building like that should be open to attracting younger people into the community, the resident said. ``I can't see the older tenants coming down to visit the stores and bars and cool little cafes.''

Handful of gems

Those stores and bars and cool little cafes are integral to the Highland Square mystique. Highland Square's strong sense of community allows retail to survive difficult times. It's the kind of place that can support the Highland Square Pharmacy, one of the few independent pharmacies in Akron, and Summit Tailoring Inc., in existence since 1907. There are many diamonds in the neighborhood necklace: Aladdin's Eatery, Two Turtles Pet Center, Dodie's, Two Amigos, Annabell's, Bucket Shop and Mary Coyle among them. Away from the immediate strip are other popular social spots, including the classy Tangier, the casual Rockne's and the late-night hub Frank's Place. But if Highland Square's business and entertainment district can be summed up in one place, many would point to the Highland Theatre. Movie fan Ted Bare, who has owned the theater since the 1970s, has struggled to find operators who would keep the independent movie house viable in a cookie-cutter world. The theater's last incarnation was a bar, movie house and concert venue. The man behind that project was Terry Deane, who leased the building from Bare and put $250,000 into renovations before giving up and walking away. The Highland remained dark until earlier this month, when Bare decided to try to make a go of it againhimself, this time with first-run films. Residents were relieved when the marquee lit up with the latest Harry Potter film. Spider-Man 2 is on tap for June 30. Bare,who owns two other independent movie houses, says he's nostalgic about the place, ``but it has to support itself.'' Highland Square also has a reputation for its gay-owned businesses, and over the past 15 years, the neighborhood has attracted the densest population of gay couples in the city. Michael Curry, who is gay and has lived in the square since 1989, said that's because the square is a ``communal place where people are pretty accepting of diversity. You can't get away with not knowing your neighbors,'' and that familiarity breeds acceptance, he said. ``I've never felt discriminated against as long as I've lived here.'' Many gays are also drawn to the opportunity to renovate the square's historic homes. ``Some stereotypes are true,'' he chuckled.

Clashes, chemistry

Mark Smith marvels at the sense of community. ``It's a real neighborhood in the sense that people here talk to each other when they walk up and down the streets,'' said the architect and president of the Highland Square Business Association. They also chat on the Internet. Resident Rosemary Reymann maintains a Q&A column on the association's Web site. A recent writer noted that Beacon Journal reporters were sniffing around and asked Reymann if she had any burning issues she thought needed addressing. ``Is the pope Catholic?'' she cracked, and listed several concerns. Addressing ``burning issues'' is something Highland Square residents know how to do. John Mascolo, a member of the block watch and an assistant Summit County prosecutor, said Highland Square's cosmopolitan flavor helps to breed the activism. He pointed out how Hereford Park residents reinvigorated a block watch group after one of them was burglarized. With the help of city grants, the group publishes a quarterly newsletter and sponsors various activities, including a Safety Week for children last summer and a drama workshop for children this week. In the late 1990s, residents on Rhodes came together and succeeded in closing a troublesome bar by circulating ballot petitions to ban liquor sales in the area. The strategy got the city's attention because it threatened the existence of Tangier. The city lobbied to have the bar's liquor license revoked. And utter the phrase ``Taco Bell,'' and you'll get an earful about the power of the people. Neighbors succeeded in chasing away the fast-food enterprise after it purchased the property at Market and Portage Path. Residents feared its flashy chain-eatery decor would change the district's chemistry. The city bought the property from Taco Bell, and residents made good on their offer to turn the dirt lot into a community garden. ``They are more vocal,'' Councilman Dan Horrigan said of his constituents, ``but then maybe they have a little more at stake.'' Because many of the residents can afford to move out, the city recognizes the need to keep the peace. That's why Mayor Don Plusquellic entered the recent dispute over the redevelopment of the north side of the square, where the plans of a well-respected property owner were clashing with how some residents envisioned Highland Square evolving. Some residents said it was a wake-up call when they collectively fell asleep at the wheel and Walgreens drugstore opened up on the south side of the square with parking in the front. They say it ruined the pedestrian-friendly feel of storefronts that hug the sidewalk. So when Steve Albrecht, president of the homegrown Acme Fresh Market stores, announced plans for a north side strip with parking in the front, residents leaped to their feet. Plusquellic urged Albrecht to move the grocery store to the community garden site, allowing a compromise redesign. The nearby Star Market will move into the store. Construction could begin in September. Future plans call for eight retail units lining the north side of Market and a new library branch straddling North Highland Avenue.

Changes coming

While the long-awaited sounds of construction appear to be at hand, the square's future is far from certain. The south side of the business district is in desperate need of a makeover, as its overall appearance doesn't reflect the vibrancy of what goes on inside.Horrigan suggests the need will stand out even more once the north side development is under way. And Albrecht warns that Highland Square will not be commercially competitive without some much-needed attention. ``Funky becomes seedy'' without investment, he said. Other changes coming: Portage Path Elementary is to undergo a $9 million renovation, starting in 2011. A community outcry followed initial plans to tear down the school and rebuild it as part of the district's $800 million construction project. Portage Path is the only Akron school to be spared from the wrecking ball. After years of discussion on what to do with the library, the latest plans call for a new 12,000-foot-square building to replace the 4,300-square-foot structure. The larger building would require part of Highland Avenue to be vacated, and the idea is contingent on purchasing some property from Albrecht. Real estate developer Lou Farris Jr. expects to do something with his 1920-era Von and Crescent apartment buildings. He's still deciding whether to renovate the buildings or replace them with buildings that have living spaces above storefronts. But ``before I go boldly where no one else has gone, I'll give my friend Steve Albrecht the opportunity'' to venture into his project, Farris said. In 2002, Highland Square got another glimpse of the future. More than 200 people poured into Westminster Presbyterian Church to see a $75,000 study sponsored by the city, the Highland Square Business Association and Ohio & Erie Canal Association. The vision included two- and three-story buildings with retail on the bottom and condominiums on top, a parking deck, benches, bike paths, murals, fountains and a public square, and lots of street-level activity. Kellner can't wait, and she hopes a little of that money flows south. ``We need some funding and renovation and outright encouragement to get people to move in and stay here,'' she said. ``I love my house and I'm very happy in it, but the square itself,'' she said, ``we need help.''