Blossom Music Center, Camp Y-Noah among big local winners in state capital budget

Titus Wu, Akron Beacon Journal
·4 min read
Deacon Jett visits the reopened McKinley Presidential Library & Museum on Tuesday with his mother, Hannah Freshour, and grandfather, Bob Freshour, of Canton Township.
Deacon Jett visits the reopened McKinley Presidential Library & Museum on Tuesday with his mother, Hannah Freshour, and grandfather, Bob Freshour, of Canton Township.

More than $14 million will flow into Summit and Stark counties for local projects in Ohio's capital budget unveiled Tuesday, with roughly half going to each community.

The capital budget is a state spending bill done every two years, totaling more than $3 billion for state infrastructure and community projects. Requests for community funding were due in March.

About $191 million will go to community projects across Ohio, $100 million for school safety, $408 million for agencies using federal COVID-19 relief money and $50 million for local jails. Nearly $1 billion in incentives for Intel's semiconductor project, the largest economic development project in the state, also were included.

For the Akron-Canton area, a $3.9 million request from the Akron-Canton Airport for safety projects was turned down. It had been a priority for both counties, but state Sen. Kirk Schuring, R-Jackson Township, said a necessary agreement wasn't in place for a bond fund to support it.

"We got them some money last capital budget," he noted, but "the airport didn't have the agreement this time."

What projects are being funded in Summit County?

The capital budget gave funding to 22 projects in Summit County. The largest — at $1.5 million — was for Blossom Music Center. There were also $1 million to improve Camp Y-Noah in Clinton for the Akron Area YMCA.

Other Akron-area projects include:

  • $750,000 for the Copley Ridgewood Trail

  • $500,000 for the Akron Art Museum's Center for Creative Learning

  • $500,000 for the International Soap Box Derby race track

  • $500,000 for Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens

  • $338,000 for Glen Chamberlin Park in Twinsburg

  • $300,000 for the New Franklin Tudor House

  • $275,00 for the Willadale Trail-Boettler/Southgate Connector in Green

  • $250,000 for Summit County Fairgrounds improvements in Tallmadge

  • $250,000 for the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio's STEM Center of Excellence in Peninsula.

  • $250,000 for the Cranz Farm at Hale Farm and Village

  • $250,000 to CHC Addiction Services

  • $150,000 for renovating Akron Rehabilitation Services

  • $120,000 for the North Fork Preserve of Bath $120,000

  • $100,000 for additional animal housing at the Akron Zoo

  • $80,000 for Case-Barlow Farm in Hudson

  • $75,000 for the Hudson Historic Boy Scout Cabin

  • $75,000 for the Shaw Jewish Community Center in Akron

  • $65,000 for the Hudson's schools public walking land lab at Ellsworth Elementary

  • $50,000 for rehabilitation of the G.A.R. Hall in Peninsula

  • $50,000 for the Oviatt House in Richfield

What projects are being funded in Stark County?

Stark County received money for 25 projects. The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton is set to receive the largest amount at $1 million. The Palace Theatre in downtown Canton and the cancer center at Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital each received $500,000.

Some other Canton-area projects include:

  • $300,000 for the North Canton Dogwood Pool House

  • $250,000 for renovation of the Timken Gatehouse

  • $150,000 for the Powell Education Center in Osnaburg Township, honoring William Powell, the first Black person to design, construct and own a professional golf course in the U.S.

  • $171,000 for upgrades to the Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum in Canton

  • $300,000 for Meredith Park in Perry Township

  • $250,000 for Junior Achievement North Central Ohio, a program helping young people financially and career-wise

Seema Rao, deputy director and chief experience officer Akron Art Museum, looks at Haske, a single use plastic and embroidery work by artist Rufai Zakari.
Seema Rao, deputy director and chief experience officer Akron Art Museum, looks at Haske, a single use plastic and embroidery work by artist Rufai Zakari.

Other projects in Medina, Portage and Wayne counties

Here are some other Akron-area projects in line for state funding:

  • $625,000 for the Salmon Carter House in Ravenna

  • $500,000 for the Lyric Theater renovation in Wooster

  • $450,000 for Medina County Emergency Housing Shelter

  • $300,000 for Medina Christian Academy Capital Expansion Phase II

  • $300,00 for Creston Community Park renovations in Wayne County

  • $250,000 for the Streetsboro Industrial Park

  • $250,000 for the Wooster Barnes Preserve

  • $250,000 for the City of Orrville Market West Historic Area

  • $200,000 for the Portage Bike and Hike Trail Mill Race segment

  • $175,000 for the McDowell-Phillips House Museum in Medina

  • $100,000 for Weatherstone Park in Wadsworth

To view the statewide capital list, go to: https://tinyurl.com/hb9bab2e

Titus Wu is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: $14M of state dollars to come for local projects in Akron-Canton area