[PRCo] Re: CVSR--Quaker Square

[Dwight Long]

   Herb   Maybe they could add the former NOTL terminal building to the tour
lis= t.  Do you know if the subways are still there?  Last I heard the= y
were but were filled up with old records.   Dwight

Apr 27, 2011 02:04:38 AM, pittsburgh-railways at dement= ia.org wrote:
Quacker Squar= e was bought out (like everything in East/Central Akron) by
Akron State = University (ASU). The hotel (formerly Quaker Oat Company grain
elevators= ) is now a large dormitory, the old Railway Express Agency
buildings are= now ASU facility maintenance offices, a couple restaurants
remain but m= ore for the enjoyment of ASU faculty, staff and students and
much of the= area is (what else) a parking lot, albeit a good looking
parking
lot. W= hen I used to walk the one mile from home to Spicer Elementary
Demonstra= tion School every weekday in the 1950s I never dreamed that today
that t= he one square block Akron University and it's supporting
businesses woul= d some day take up all the land from that one square
block, past my elem= entary school, to just a block short of where my old
house used to stand= . Even more melancholy is that I never thought that the
wonderful smell = of Quaker Oats being toasted in the Howard Street plant
(after being rel= eased from the elevators up the Mill St hill to travel, by
gravity, thro= ugh large pipes under the street) would also disappear.
Cuyahoga Valley = Railroad (CVR), of course, uses the old B &O North Howard
Street st= ation. There are several moderate and high priced restaurants
within wal= king distance along North Main Street. Also, the public transit
provider= in Akron (Akron Metro) operates a free bus from the train station
runni= ng in a very large loop and hitting some of the points of interest in
Ak= ron. Namely, the Mustill Store &Mill, Akron Zoo, the Restaurant &= Bar
area (like a very small Carson Street) around South Main &Excha= nge
Streets,
the Spaghetti Warehouse in Goodrich Commons, the Akron Metr= o Downtown Bus
Station (focal point of all Metro bus routes, Cantons' St= ark Area Regional
Transit Authority , Portage Area Regional Transit Auth= ority
and Greyhound Lines), the Civic Theatre, Lock 3 area and then back= to the
train station. Akron always seems to have plenty of things going= on any
time
of the year and the people returning from the attractions s= eem to be
happy.
During the Summer months, upon request, a stop can be m= ade at what is
called
the "Big Bend Metro Park Area" where a small bus w= ill take passengers to
Stan Hywet Hall, the mansion built by Frank A. Si= eberling, Sr around 1915
(+-). The manor house and gardens are a real ge= m in Akron and are worth
seeing.

During the Summer when CVR runs = Canton service the same thing is
available there. A Stark Area Transit b= us runs a route stopping at local
Canton points of interest such as the = Pro Football Hall of Fame, the First
Ladies Museum, President McKinley's= house and gardens and a couple other
things.

Like I said, there = is always something going on here and the railroad has,
fortunately, cha= nged with the times and has become a part of the character
of this regio= n.

On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 20:52, Dwight Long wrote:

>
>Herb I just learned that Quaker Square in Akro= n has closed and that all
>the railway memorabilia are being auction= ed off this Saturday. A few
>years
>ago I spent a pleasant af= ternoon there between the inbound and outbound
>trains of your railw= ay. What will it now use as an attraction in the
Akron
>area? Do you= know what caused the demise of the Quaker Square? Dwight
>
>>
>


-- 
Herb Brannon
In Cuyahoga Valley Nationa= l Park