The City of Akron is seeking ideas to save the 110-year-old Bowen School Building after a hotel redevelopment plan came up short. The previous respondent, Walt Zielinski, said his plan for a 42-room hotel with a restaurant and spa would have been a great use for the building, but he couldn’t bridge the $3 million funding gap.

City Hopes for Adaptive Reuse

The city hopes that someone will come forward with a new plan to save the building, which has three floors, a basement, and a sub-basement. Proposals are due July 24 for adaptive reuse of the building, which could include retail, residential, or commercial uses, or a combination. The city also owns two parking lots and an acre of vacant land adjacent to the school, which could be part of the sale.

Dana Noel, the advocacy chair for Progress Through Preservation, thinks the building would be perfect for apartments, which could encourage other downtown development and the adaptive reuse of more buildings. The city is also looking for a plan that will incorporate two historic murals, which were created by Works Progress Administration artists.

The city is not looking to have the building demolished and is open to a variety of uses. Sean Vollman, Akron’s deputy director of economic development, said the city is looking for a developer who can come up with a creative solution to save the building.

Original reporting: Signal Akron — read the source article.