Akron Life June 2023

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UP F RON T

[ Managing Editor | Kelly Petryszyn | kpetryszyn@bakermediagroup.com ]

Victory At Last

After delays, new Canton landmarks are open and starting to flourish.

It was the first Stark Pride Festival, and more than 3,000 people came downtown in support. The crowd overwhelmed vendors, with food trucks running out of food and surrounding restaurants getting so full that we had to walk back to Conestoga Grill for dinner. After that success, Stark Pride returns this year on June 10. The plaza opened about two and a half years ago after pandemic delays of the proj ect that began in 2016. Previously, Canton didn’t have a central green space where everyone could gather downtown. Since it opened, the plaza has been a venue for foot ball parties, summer outdoor movies, farm ers markets, First Fridays and festivals. Turn to pg. 35 to explore more of what the Hall of Fame City has to offer in our Canton guide that has new restaurants, des tinations and more. A game changer is the Hall of Fame Village. After years of struggles and delays, anchors have gradually been opening and the village finally comes alive this summer with most of the campus activated and shopping and dining spots opening on its promenade. It changes the landscape of Canton — you can see the Red Zone Ferris wheel from the highway exit. I got a chance to tour it, and it is impres sive. Located next to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the village includes Touchdown Terrace that offers up close stadium views from below the scoreboard, Top Golf roof top swing suites that have sophisticated VR tech in the Brew Kettle brewery restaurant and an amphitheater area in the center of it all with a zip line overhead and the Ferris wheel behind it.

Anne Graffice, Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Co. executive vice president of global marketing and public affairs, says data shows that Canton is getting older, smaller and poorer. But developments like the plaza and the village are turning a corner. “We’re becoming more opportunistic, we’re building for the future, we’re becoming younger and becoming a place where jobs will be created,” she says. It’s tough to visualize while walking by the eight fields, indoor dome and stadium, but those anchors can bring hundreds of thou sands of people for one event, festival or tournament. And with the newly renovated DoubleTree by Hilton Canton Downtown, those guests are pouring out into downtown restaurants, shops and attractions too. The same effect happens on a smaller scale with events on Centennial Plaza. And the Hilton Tapestry Hotel and indoor water park are coming next year, so numbers can only go up. Graffice admits that the village is not yet the “Disneyland of football,” as it has been described, but it’s on the road to a version of that. The future of Canton and the vil lage is looking up. “It’s a mission to really change a landscape,” she says. “We are working toward creat ing a bigger, better and brighter future for everyone.”

photo by Kelly Petryszyn

The turf on Centennial Plaza was so packed with spectators that the crowd spilled into the streets and alley — and it was a sea of rainbow pride at the Stark Pride Festival last June 11. A woman with a rainbow pride flag draped around her shoul ders kissed a woman in an ombre rainbow T-shirt, kids in rainbow print waved LGBTQ-plus flags, a little girl sported an “I heart My Moms” T-shirt and a pair of men in rainbow leis put their arms around one another. Drag queens Hershae Chocolate, Kaleigha Diamond and Rosie Quartz each killed it on the amphitheater stage, garnering whoops and dollar bills from the crowd. One queen broke a heeled boot but performed through it and earned thunderous applause. When Angie Haze took the stage, Haze remarked on how much love was coming from the crowd.

[ Managing Editor Kelly Petryszyn is an adventure seeker, forever a dreamer and an avid supporter of #TeamFiona. ]

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JUNE 2023 | akronlife.com