U. of Akron finalizes Quaker Square purchase

The landmark is part of the university’s New Landscape for Learning initiative.

AKRON — The round grain silos at the Quaker Square hotel complex will continue to welcome guests, but under a new name as the hotel is now the Quaker Square Inn at The University of Akron.

The university’s $22.6 million purchase of the entire complex was finalized Wednesday.

Hotel guest services will continue to be managed by RDA Hotel Management Co., which has been operating the former Crowne Plaza Hotel for the past year. RDA will manage 95 of the hotel’s rooms on behalf of the university for the next two years. The remaining 95 rooms will become a university residence hall after Jan. 1.

Quaker Square’s retail stores will remain open indefinitely, and office tenants’ contracts will be honored.

“We are proud to assume the stewardship of this historic facility as a part of our ongoing New Landscape for Learning initiative,” says Luis M. Proenza, university president. “We realize Quaker Square’s importance as a national landmark for the company founded by Ferdinand Schumacher, and we will preserve its cultural and architectural integrity as it becomes a part of the university.”

Room rates will be competitive with the local market with discounts available for university employees, business guests and students’ families.

The facility will continue to book banquets and meetings.

The Quaker Square project is among the most recent of the university’s New Landscape for Learning campus enhancement initiatives. Others include the three-month-old Exchange Street Residence Hall and an on-campus stadium that is scheduled to open in fall 2009.

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the hotel was constructed from the 19th century mills and silos that were the beginnings of the Quaker Oats Co. In March 1973, plans were announced to redevelop the vacant buildings, and on April 1, 1975, Quaker Square was opened with four shops and an ice cream parlor.