Akron Life June 2023

CANTON LIVING

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Constellation Center for Excellence The 73,000-square-foot hub contains man agement offices and fantastic stadium views including an atrium with tiered seating and a rooftop entertaining space for 50. There’s also a Starbucks and a workout facility from former NFL player Donald Driver. Office tenants include Cleveland-based JumpStart, which is developing an entrepreneurship center. “[It’s] a hub for cutting-edge technol ogy, research, development related to not just sports but entrepreneurship in general,” Graffice says. Center for Performance The largest air-pressurized dome of its kind in the country, the Center for Performance offers 100,000 square feet of year-round sports and event space. “It’s a very unique technology that’s relatively new that creates an environ ment where the temperature is the same top to bottom,” Graffice says. Turf and cement can be covered with basketball flooring, so it can host soccer, volleyball, pickleball and more events, such as the recent Stark County Home & Garden show that drew over 100 vendors and over 7,000 attendees.

Play-Action Plaza The iconic 20-gondola Ferris wheel from the I-X Center got restored as the new Red Zone ride to anchor this 3-acre amuse ment area. Also ride the Forward Pass zip line where you sit in a football-shaped car and get flung from the quarterback to the receiver. This summer, Spike It is coming, which is a 40-foot-tall drop tower ride that emulates a touchdown celebration. Hang out around an amphitheater with food, beer, wine, a fire pit, yard games like cornhole and entertainment. “We can have small venue concerts, small plays or vignettes,” says Graffice, “flag football tournaments, you name it.” Fan Engagement Zone Get travel tips from Visit Canton, create a bear wearing your favorite team’s football uniform at Build-A-Bear Workshop, dine at the upscale coach Don Shula’s American Kitchen and have a beer at the Brew Kettle’s rooftop Top Golf virtual swing suites overlooking the stadium. “It’s a venue like nowhere else,” Graffice says. Plus, find

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akronlife.com | JUNE 2023