AKRON, Ohio – New multimillion-dollar investments in two high-profile projects in Akron by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation support the community’s major civic and cultural institutions leading the revitalization of the Northeast Ohio region.  

• A $10 million grant to The University of Akron supports the University Park Alliance’s economic development plan to revitalize the downtown district. Those efforts are expected to bring 500 new housing units, create 1,000 new jobs, attract new businesses and mixed-use developments, improve the neighborhood’s infrastructure, and incorporate innovative approaches to health and community education. The Alliance expects to draw additional investments of $500 million to $1 billion to the area in the coming years.
• With a total of $6 million contributed to the Akron Art Museum’s capital campaign, the museum’s board of trustees has decided to name its dramatic new building in honor of the Knight brothers. The 63,000-square-foot John S. and James L. Knight Building, designed by internationally renowned architects Coop Himmelb(l)au, opens July 15  2007 adjacent to the museum’s historic 1899 building.

The grants were announced today in a luncheon address at the Akron Roundtable by Alberto Ibargüen, president of Knight Foundation.

 “Jack and Jim Knight were passionate about community and journalism, and applied elsewhere in their news careers what they learned first here in Akron,” he said. “Strong civic and cultural institutions are leading the way in Akron, and their innovative work is a powerful model for other communities.”   

Dr. W. Gerald Austen, chairman of Knight Foundation’s board of trustees and an Akron native, was pleased with the museum trustees’ agreement to put the Knight name on the expansion. “The Knight name has been synonymous with community leadership in Akron for nearly a century. This stellar addition to Akron’s cultural life sits in the same block as the city’s John S. Knight Center, assuring that generations of northeast Ohioans will associate the Knight name with quality in the arts and community.”   

Immediately east of the Akron Art Museum, University Park encompasses 700 acres, with 400-plus businesses, 11,500 residents and 24,000 university students. Six years ago, Knight Foundation ignited a spark with $3 million in initial funding for the University Park Alliance — a partnership of The University of Akron, Summa Health System, the City of Akron, Akron Public Schools, the Greater Akron Chamber, Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, University Park Development Corporation, The Beacon Journal and the foundation. That initial investment has since grown far beyond its original goals, leveraging more than $150 million in public and private investments in the five years since the Alliance’s founding.

 “The leadership of the Knight brothers lives on in this wonderful investment in Akron’s future. The University of Akron will continue to invest in the revitalization of our neighborhood, University Park, by creating innovative ways to integrate health and learning throughout this vitally important community,” said Dr. Luis Proenza, president of The University of Akron. “This collaborative effort will transform Akron and provide a shining example to others in Northeast Ohio of how university-community partnerships provide the key to our economic future.”

Said Thomas Strauss, president and chief executive officer of Summa Health System, “We believe in the future of University Park and have invested more than $100 million during the past several years in support of initiatives to rejuvenate the area. This civic investment by Knight Foundation provides a welcome boost to Akron’s future by providing additional resources to continue the exciting revitalization of University Park.”

            The Knight funding will help the University Park Alliance push forward on several key fronts, according to Donald L. Plusquellic, Mayor of the City of Akron. “Because this grant supports new urban housing and retail development, it will assist us in retaining and attracting young professionals. With the continued revitalization of the downtown area and University Park, it also encourages development in our new Akron Biomedical Corridor. I have always said that Akron is the most collaborative City I know of, and this investment in the University Park Alliance proves that once again,” said Plusquellic.

            Added Ken Stapleton, director of  the University Park Alliance: “This is a challenge grant. It challenges all of Akron’s leaders to seize the opportunity to create a new future for Akron, one built for the knowledge economy and centered on Akron’s most important knowledge economy entity, The University of Akron.”

            In 2000, Knight Foundation initiated the Akron Art Museum’s capital campaign project with a $4 million lead gift, which inspired the museum’s trustees to be more ambitious in their goal. The foundation’s trustees approved an additional $2 million grant earlier this year.

The innovative new building is directly connected to the current Art Museum facility. The expansion triples the museum’s gallery space, and allows it to display for the first time extensive permanent installations of its collection. The expansion also adds a lecture hall, classroom, video orientation room, retail store, catering kitchen, indoor and outdoor dining and a grand lobby.

“The museum’s new Knight Building not only gives Akron a world-class cultural destination, it gives the city’s residents a place to experience a wealth of artistic expression,” said Ibargüen. “The expansion’s opening will be a transformational moment for this community and its citizens.”

Museum Director Mitchell Kahan added, “We are eager to open and bring Akron’s artistic legacy out of storage. With the new facilities, we’ll be able to provide expanded educational opportunities and really make Akron’s downtown a cultural hub for the entire region.”

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of U.S. communities, including Akron, where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Since its founding in 1950, Knight Foundation has made more than 900 grants totaling nearly $91 million in Northeast Ohio. For more on Knight Foundation, visit www.knightfdn.org.