October 2025

 

Weekly Community Announcements​

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October Week 2

City of Akron Seeks Proposals for Former Fire Station 12 in Wallhaven

Akron, Ohio, Oct. 3, 2025  

The City of Akron is soliciting proposals from qualified developers for the purchase and redevelopment of 1852 W. Market St. (Parcel Number 6717460), which is the location of the retired Fire Station No. 12 located in the Wallhaven Neighborhood of Akron. The City is interested in proposals that prioritize the adaptive reuse of the existing building.

The retired Fire Station No. 12 was built in 1952 and served the community for more than 70 years before being replaced by the state-of-the-art facility on South Hawkins Avenue. The property is in the Wallhaven neighborhood--named after the Wallhaven Hotel and service station as the first businesses in the area. Other businesses soon followed, including the original Swenson’s that still calls Wallhaven home.

Today, Wallhaven is a fast-paced retail district that supports a wide variety of business types such as hair care, a variety of fast-food options like Swenson’s, fine dining like Ken Stewart’s, clothing stores, banking, a pet store and more. The property is also centrally located between three grocery stores: Aldi, Acme Fresh Market, and Whole Foods Market. The Property is conveniently located along an Akron Metro route that runs West Market Street from Downtown Akron. West Market Street has traffic volumes of 23,000 vehicles per day. The Property is a 4-minute drive from I-77.

The RFP can be found at akronohio.gov/rfp. All questions should be submitted in writing to Development@akronohio.gov.

 

RFP Distribution                         October 1, 2025

Proposal Due Date                     November 5, 2025

Review of Proposals                  November 5-November 12, 2025

Award of Proposal                      November 17, 2025

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Mayor Malik and Chief Harding Release Joint Statement on Summit County Grand Jury Decision of No Bill 

Akron, Ohio, Oct. 2, 2025  — Earlier today, a Summit County grand jury made a no bill determination regarding the fatal officer involved shooting of Jazmir Tucker which occurred on November 28, 2024. This means that the officer involved will not face criminal charges. Mayor Malik and Chief Harding have released the following statement: 

“We want to again send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Jazmir Tucker as they continue to mourn his loss. We want to thank the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for investigating this case and the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s office for accepting the investigation to present to a grand jury. We’d also like to thank the members of the Summit County grand jury for honorably performing their civic duty.    

We want to reiterate that this investigation was handled independently from the City of Akron. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation undertook the investigation of Jazmir’s death from beginning to end. From that point, they turned the investigative materials over to another outside agency, the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office to review the evidence. The Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office then convened a special grand jury made up of Summit County residents, who were presented with the evidence accumulated from the state’s investigation. The members of that grand jury made the collective decision not to bring criminal charges in this matter.” 

 With this portion of the process ending, the Attorney General’s investigative file will be released to the public and will be available shortly on the Attorney General’s website here.  

Now that the criminal process has concluded, the Akron Police Department will conduct a thorough internal investigation into this incident to determine if any APD policies or procedures were violated, taking into consideration the evidence gathered by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Once complete, the results of that internal investigation will be publicly available and will be shared with the city’s Independent Police Auditor for his review.  

Mayor Malik and Chief Harding continued, “There will undoubtedly be many reactions to today’s news. For those who wish to speak out – your speech and advocacy are constitutionally-protected, and the City of Akron will safeguard those rights. Violence and property damage are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. 

To our officers, we recognize the challenges you face as you work to protect and serve our city. The call to public service is an honorable one and the calling of a police officer is especially challenging. There will continue to be difficult days ahead, but we have confidence in the men and women of the Akron Police Department to meet this moment, and we will continue to support you as you protect and serve the Akron community. 

Separate and apart from the criminal and disciplinary processes, we believe that fatal encounters should be examined for lessons learned. As we have previously shared, the City of Akron is undertaking a review of our use of force policy with a nationally recognized organization, the Police Executive Research Forum. In the coming months, the PERF team will work with our community, with law enforcement and the public, to review the City of Akron’s use of force policy, practices, and procedures – to delve into community expectations, training, best practices and more. With their help, Akron will collectively seek the best outcomes possible in dangerous situations.”  

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October Week 1

Over the weekend, the John Brown Monument was officially rededicated! Thank you to the Akron Zoo, Summit County Historical Society, Summit Metro Parks, and Alpha Phi Alpha Foundation for putting on a wonderful event, as well as our teams from Lock 3 and Recreation and Parks that helped clean the monument. Originally dedicated in 1919, other ceremonies like this have happened only two other times—1939 and 1975.

The property that the monument is on is actually owned by the City of Akron but is leased to the Zoo. While the Zoo has kept it accessible for many years for tours by appointment, we’re excited to share that, thanks to Summit Metroparks, there will soon be a new path leading up to the monument that will allow access to the monument anytime the Zoo is open. The completion of the path is anticipated to be sometime in mid-2026.

This was my first time actually seeing the monument, and it is my hope that young people visiting the monument will be inspired and have a greater recognition of the amazing history all around us.

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The Akron Fire Union Local 330 voted to reject an independent fact-finder’s report and recommendations related to the contract between the Union and the City of Akron. Mayor Malik has released the following statement:  

“We deeply value the work of our Akron firefighters and paramedics. Throughout our negotiations with the Akron Fire Union, we have always aimed to reach a fair agreement that appropriately supports our safety employees while also balancing our responsibility to all City employees, City service levels, and the City’s overall fiscal health. Yesterday, Local 330 voted to reject the independent fact-finder’s report. The process will now move to binding conciliation, during which a conciliator will choose between either the City or the Union’s respective contract proposals for the 2025-2027 collective bargaining agreement.” ​​​​