City of Akron Breaks Ground at Reservoir Pool and Community Center
Project scheduled for completion in Summer 2025
Akron, Ohio, May 8, 2024 — Yesterday, city officials and community representatives hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at Reservoir Pool and Community Center (1735 Hillside Terrace) to celebrate the start of construction. The pool will be completely redone, and the community center will be partially demolished, expanded, and renovated.
The new pool will feature a 15-foot slide, shallow water play space, 25-meter lap lanes, climbing wall, shaded areas, updated bathhouse and more. The community center will include an updated and modern building entrance, multi-purpose/meeting room, kitchen, art room, game room, and gathering space. Outdoor renovations will add more green scape, seating areas, improved pavement, and feature an enhanced fire pit area. The new center and grounds will provide more space for community gatherings and flexible programming space.
“This has been a long time coming for this community and we’re so excited to get started on this transformational project,” said Mayor Malik. “This process has been done in collaboration with our community as residents have weighed in on what improvements they’d like to see and how they plan to utilize this public space. Their feedback has been critical in the design, and I can’t wait to cut the ribbon next summer on a new pool and community center.”
In 2019, the City of Akron launched a community wide assessment of its community centers to determine which facilities were most in need of improvements and what specific upgrades residents wanted to see. Reservoir was one of three facilities deemed to be the most in need of significant repair. The city conducted community engagement sessions and public outreach to hear from residents about their needs and wishes. This included a virtual engagement session, in-person engagement sessions at the WaterTower Market, attending ward meetings with Ward 10 Councilwoman Sharon Connor, and issuing a survey on the pools.
“Our neighborhood has been eagerly awaiting both the community center update and the pool for quite a while,” said Ward 10 Councilwoman Sharon Connor. “The design of the pool will not only provide hours of enjoyment for our families, but it will also provide water fitness for our residents with mobility difficulties. These equitable upgrades will continue with our community center which will offer more space and flexible programming options for all our residents to enjoy.”
The Reservoir Community Center was originally built in 1933 as a playground building. In 1990 there was an 1,800 sq. ft. addition which included the kitchen and community room. As part of the work to be done, the 1990 addition will be demolished, and a 4800 sq. ft. addition will be added. The pool and bathhouse were originally constructed in 1968.
The renovations to the pool and community center will total approximately $10 million and will be paid for through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.
Contact:
Stephanie Marsh, Director of Communications
press@akronohio.gov or 330-256-1191