Magic City and Midway Twin Drive-In Theaters

There are a few other drive-in movie theaters that are about 40 or so miles from Akron, but I think Ravenna is far enough! Here are the final two:

Magic City Drive-In
5602 S. Cleveland-Massillon Rd.
Barberton, OH
330-825-4333
www.magiccitydrive-in.com

The Magic City has a pretty detailed history on their Web page. I do want to state that although the original marquee is still standing, it no longer has the cool Aladdin-themed illustration.

Midway Twin Drive-In
2736 Ohio 59
Ravenna, OH
(330) 296-9829
www.funflick.com

The architect behind the Midway was Ohioan Jack Vogel, who was known as one of the most creative and prolific drive-in designers in the United States. Although the original screen was destroyed during a storm in 2000, the theater still features much of its original 1955 designs in the marquee and ticket booth, as you can see from the photos above.

Drive-In Movie Theaters

Akron’s drive-in movie theater history began in 1937 when the Starlight Auto Theater opened off of 224 near Kelly Ave. and Waterloo. It wasn’t just the first in Akron, it was the first in Ohio and one of the first ten built in the entire country. The theater entertained movie goers until it turned the lights out in 1983, but the street on which it was located still carries its name: Starlight Dr.

The tradition of drive-ins continues today, in fact Ohio has more of them than almost any other state. The numbers continue to dwindle, but it’s usually a close tie with Pennsylvania and sometimes California. Over the next few weeks I will provide a few tidbits about the three drive-ins closest to the Akron area

Blue Sky Drive-In
959 Broad Street
Wadsworth, OH 44281
(330) 334-1809
www.blueskydrive-in.com

The Blue Sky Drive-In was built by Dale R. Morrison in 1947. Its original screen was made of wood and had blinking lights that faced the road. Instead of providing a speaker at every parking space, a large speaker attached to the screen blasted the audio for the entire parking lot. Because cars weren’t required the theater would borrow chairs from nearby churches and funeral homes for customers to take a seat.

Leave home a little early to stop by Boss Frosty’s Ice Cream right across the street. They have a 32 ounce milkshake simply called “The Boss.”

I’ll follow up with the other drive-ins soon. I just need to go take pictures!

Akron Drive-Ins: The Season Begins

B-K Root Beer Stand
2184 Manchester Road
Akron, OH 44314-1765
(330) 753-3674

I was actually about to start my coverage of Akron’s local drive-in restaurants, theaters, and more, but it looks like the Beacon Journal kicked it off first. Enjoy this piece about the B-K Root Beer Stand!

Gus’ Chalet Restaurant

Gus’ Chalet
938 E. Tallmadge Ave.
Akron, OH, 44310
(330) 633-2322

Gus’ Chalet is one of those places that your grandparents would drag you to as a kid, but you would later gravitate to as an adult. It’s a true meat ‘n taters place that has more on the menu than just American fair. It’s the place where Akron’s heavyweights and politicos used to and still meet and has a Greek side of the menu that truly needs to be explored.

This atmosphere hasn’t changed since the 1970s, whether it’s the menu or the decor. It’s dark and mysterious with tiny gold-speckled mirrors on the walls and a mystique all to its own.

Greek native Gus Kanarios opened the restaurant in 1974 after several years of working at the Anthes restaurants. He later brought other members of his family on board, including son-in-law Kosta Galapoulas.

Their entrees are storied, but the appetizers are even more legendary. When you sit down you will be presented with a tasty kidney bean salad, peppers, classic Akron-style sauerkraut balls, and their legendary Gus Puffs! For a long time they were a local secret, but in 1988 Gus reveled his secret recipe in the Akron Beacon Journal:

NOTE: I had previously posted the recipe for Gus Puffs, but have been kindly asked to remove it, and rightly so. If you wish to look it up, the recipe was printed in the ABJ on June 8, 1988 as part of Jane Snow’s column.

Devitis Italian Market & Deli

Devitis Italian Market & Deli
560 East Tallmadge Avenue
Akron, OH 44310-2443
(330) 535-2626
http://www.devitis.com

For more than fifty years Devitis Italian Deli & Market has served the Akron Italian community and those Italian at heart. Many of the prepackaged items can be found in other shops, but it’s the homemade sauces, soups, sausages, lasagna, and more that have kept the family business going for four generations. The shop is open seven days a week and has hot and cold meals available starting at lunch.

I usually provide a little history in my posts, but the Devitis’ Web site has a pretty detailed narrative. If I had to pick my favorite lasagna in Akron it would be a tough choice between Devitis and Papa Joe’s. Not only is the food delectable, but the atmosphere is very 1950s and always festive.

Retro Home Decor

Retro Home Decor
451 W. Market St.
440-241-348

I’m pretty busy this week, so I’ll make this one short!

West Market has a great stretch of antique stores a tiny flea markets that I plan on slowly covering over the next few months.

Davin Strong had a pretty steady gig with Chrysler until he was handed a pink slip and had to find a new job. After much soul searching he finally decided to take his life in a different direction and purchased 451 West Market to make his dream of retro interior design a reality.

Retro Home Decor is filled with classic furniture and decorations from the 1930s through the 1980s. It’s difficult to nail down a description of Davin’s entire collection, so I highly recommend that you stop by and check out the awesomeness. My favorite is the amazing macramé lamp hanging from the third-floor ceiling. See the above photos for just a taste of the collection.

Highland Shoe Repair

Highland Shoe Repair
828 W Market Street
330-376-9670

(Note: You may not be able to tell from my poor photography, but the mannequins on display in the photo corresponded with the release of the film The Green Hornet.)

It’s difficult to imagine that in in this digital age a shoe repair shop would receive much business in the greater Akron area, but cobbler/philosopher/humorist Bob Ferguson has made it happen in Highland Square since 1993.

Ferguson, who was born in Akron and attended Ellet High, studied to be an editorial cartoonist after leaving the Army. With few prospects he found a job with a chain shoe shop, but found himself dissatisfied with his position and decided to purchase the space next to the Highland Theater.

Always known for his unique outlook on life, Ferguson uses his wit and penchant for commentary on pop culture and current events by arranging decorated mannequins in the front window of his shop. While some of the displays may include his love for the WJW-TV8 characters/personalities Ghoulardi or Big Chuck and Lil’ John, he also drew headlines in 2001 with a scene involving “Lady Justice” severing the bloody head of Osama bin Laden, just one week after September 11th. A resident or two complained, but Ferguson’s statement was allowed to stay, protected by the First Amendment.

Ferguson also grabbed some ink in 2003 when he entered and was accepted into the Red Bull Flutag competition. He competed with thirty-six other finalists who constructed hand-made novelty flying machines that are required to be powered solely by human beings. His swine-based creation, Pigasus, finished in the final third of the competition, but it didn’t diminish the love bestowed upon him by the community. He continues to cobble today, as well as keep his little corner of Highland Square full of character.

[Final Note: A portion of the information in this post came from articles in the Beacon Journal—Katie Byard (9/25/2001), David Giffels (8/3/2003), David Giffels (8/14/2003)]

Clam Chowda’

The Chowder House Café
2028 Chestnut Blvd (near State Rd)
Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223
330-794-7102
www.chowderhousecafe.com

Like many Akronites, I love local eats, but I’m far from being a professional critic or even a seasoned foodie. So you can imagine that I was a little surprised and (at first) somewhat apprehensive when I was invited with a group of other regional bloggers to share a nine course meal at the Chowder House Café. I was flattered and excited, but Interesting Akron isn’t about food quite as much as it is about local flavor, which is exactly what this post is going to concentrate on. So, as a quick disclosure, our meal was free, but I chose to write about it not out of obligation, but because I do find it to be one of the more unique and under appreciated restaurants in the area.

Chef Louis Prpich has been an mainstay in the Akron restaurant business for over twenty years. He has a storied past, serving as chef for The Grotto in Merriman Valley (which is now Bricco Pub), The Office Bistro, and at Greystone Hall. What makes the Chowder House distinctive is not only its diverse menu and fresh food, but that so many of the ingredients are grown here in Akron. Chef Prpich picks tomatoes from his own garden behind the restaurant and preserves them so they can be served all year round. He also purchases fruits and vegetables from local farms, including corn from Szlays which was used in the creamed corn that served as a bed for our crab cakes.

The menu is perpetually changing, in fact, the entrees are different almost everyday. To find out what Chef Perpich’s has mind each week you can subscribe to a their email list. Out of the nine courses we tried the one that surprised me the most was a cassoulet, which I new to my palate. From what I’m told the Chowder House is the only place in the Akron area that serves this rich and tasty dish.

If you want to read more about the food and see photos of our meal I highly recommend checking out the blogs from my new food friends:

Carano’s Cucina
Fun Playing with Food
The Chubby Cook
Exploring Food My Way
Eating Around Town

The Old Akron “Y-M-C-A!”

Canal Park YMCA Building
1 Canal Square Plaza (Center and Bowery)
www.akronymca.com

There are obviously YMCAs in all corners of the United States, but I’d like to include the history of many classic Akron structures on this blog so that I (and hopefully my readers) can have a greater understanding and appreciation of what we have in our city. I will try to conduct as much research as I can, but if you think I have made any error in reporting facts please let me know an I will update the site immediately.

One of my favorite buildings in downtown Akron has always been the old YMCA. This noble structure is an awesome example of art deco architecture and stands as a testament to many years of service to the young people who lived, worked, and played in our city.

The Akron Young Men’s Christian Association first began in 1870 as a small reading room on South Howard Street. After a decade of growth an evening school opened to help young Akronites develop new skills for the local work environment as well as teach immigrants to read and speak English. In 1904 a five story building was constructed at State and Main, but was razed to make room for the Mayflower Hotel (now Mayflower Manor), which still stands in the same spot today. Construction for the Canal Square Y was completed in March 1931 and at the time was the biggest YMCA in the United States.

The building housed 220 dorm rooms, 24-hour medical services, two restaurants, dry cleaning, and a barber shop. (Just as a note, the number of rooms and services are different in almost every article/history I could find about the building) It also provided the largest swimming pool in Ohio, athletic courts, and a wide variety of equipment for every popular sport.

The Y supplied an outlet for young people who had few entertainment and social options, but also provided beds for countless young men who were searching for work during the Great Depression and those who needed a place to stay after serving during wartime.

Unfortunately after several decades jobs in the city dwindled and residents moved to other states and to the suburbs. The Canal Y closed in 1980, but reopened in 1986 after a $10 million overhaul funded by a group of independent investors. The dorms were converted into fifty-five apartments and portions of the building were made available to commercial businesses.

At its peak the Canal Square Y had over 9,000 members, but when it’s doors closed in December 2010 it had only 950 card-holding individuals and families. The new $11 million, 58,000-square-foot YMCA opened on December 6, 2010 at 477 E. Market Street in partnership with Summa Health System in the University Park area. Hopefully it will continue to serve everyone in the Akron community as well as the old Y did for almost eighty years. Luckily the old Canal structure still stands (it’s listed on the National Register of Historical Places) and is still available for purchase and/or rental.

The Peanut Shoppe

The Peanut Shoppe
www.akronpeanuts.com
203 South Main Street
330-376-7020

There are very few retail stores on Main Street in downtown Akron, but The Peanut Shoppe has been a mainstay since it opened in the 1930s. Owner Margie Klien has been the manager since her father Jack Ashbrook retired in 1998 and she continues to maintain the same nostalgic appeal that has kept it open for so long. The store originally operated on the west side of Main right next to the Civic Theater until 2006 when it moved across the street. Luckily the little shoppe hasn’t lost any of its charm. The walls are covered with photos of Akron athletes, including several decades of the Soap Box Derby. Visitors can have their pick of dozens of nuts and candies and even have natural peanut, almond, and cashew butter made to order. Peanuts are still processed in the original roasters that were purchased when the shoppe opened as a Planters Peanut Store more than seventy years ago.