SUMMIT LAKE TRANSFORMATION PLAN
Choice Neighborhoods Transformation Plan expands lakefront investment into the neighborhood
The Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority (AMHA) and City of Akron were awarded a Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in late 2020 for the Summit Lake neighborhood. Once home to Summit Beach Park, a lakefront destination amusement park, and the workers of nearby Goodyear and Firestone plants, the neighborhood began to decline in the mid-20th century following a series of blows: industrial pollution of the lake, redlining, highway construction, suburbanization, and the decline of the tire industry. The current Summit Lake Apartments were built on the former site of the amusement park and acquired by AMHA in 1965 to serve as a family public housing community.
In the 2010s, the opening of the Towpath Trail next to the Summit Lake Apartments and the launch of the Akron Civic Commons jumpstarted new investment in public space around the lake. Building from this momentum, the Choice Neighborhoods process is an opportunity to expand the geography and scope of investment to reach further into the neighborhood and more fully explore resident needs in the areas of housing, neighborhood, and people.
Interface Studio was on a Planning Team with EJP Consulting Group and the Liou Choice, and collaborated with the Development Team of the Michaels Organization, Torti Gallas + Partners, and Moody Nolan. The two-year process included 6 rounds of community workshops and concluded in December 2022.
Today, the Summit Lake neighborhood is a shell of its former self: half of the parcels in the neighborhood are vacant, the population has experienced a 42% decrease since 2000, and over one-third of the population lives in poverty. The Summit Lake Apartments stand apart from the rest of the neighborhood on a superblock with few access points that isolates apartment residents on the one hand, and keeps neighborhood residents from the growing amenities along the lake on the other.
Each of six round of workshops was held both near the Summit Lake Apartments and in the greater neighborhood, and designed to encourage families to participate. Working during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team held most workshops outside to maintain safety and distance. The team worked to developed creative ways to engage residents, including a “Halloween Parade” using sandwich boards to solicit resident opinions and handing out candy door-to-door.
Through the Choice Neighborhoods process, residents contributed to the development of a plan for:
HOUSING - Redevelopment of the Summit Lake Apartments
The Apartments site was reimagined to better integrate it into the neighborhood as well as better connect the neighborhood to the lake. In addition to redeveloping the lakefront Apartments site with approximately 300 mixed income housing units, the plan envisions over 170 off-site housing units to reactivate vacant lots and bring new investment into the neighborhood.
PEOPLE - Enhanced access to programs and services
A resident-first approach to programs and services puts resident voice, input and feedback as the central drivers in shaping service delivery, format and content, and focuses on building trust and relationships.
NEIGHBORHOOD - Strategic investments in the neighborhood
New and improved housing, safe and active streets, and quality of life enhancements, will reestablish Summit Lake as the place to be for residents from all walks of life .
Early Action Activity brings visible change to the community and aims to connect the Summit Lake Apartments to the larger neighborhood
A concept for a new lakefront gathering space next to the Summit Lake Apartments was developed with residents over the course of several workshops and piloted as an early action activity in 2022. A permanent build will occur in 2023 after testing the space and garnering resident feedback.
The proposed redevelopment of the Summit Lake Apartments also creates a new street network to break up the superblock and a large new public open space between the Apartments and the lake. This will open up the site to the neighborhood and the lake, reconnecting it with the street grid.
