AKRON, Ohio — The City of Akron has opened registration for the 2025 Akron Parks Challenge. 

The challenge has a goal to engage communities and neighborhood parts to create active, vibrant and safe public spaces. It offers residents an opportunity to choose $150,000 worth of capital improvements for their park. 

Interested organizations or residents only need to apply with their name, email address and the name of the park they would like to improve. Submissions must be sent in by March 22 and can be done by clicking here.

The Akron Parks Collaborative will then coordinate all registrations for the same park, schedule a time for residents to come together for a moderated session and then workshop a joint application. Those joint applications must be submitted by April 6. 

Two parks will be selected, and the Akron Parks Collaborative will survey the neighborhood, develop a plan and help make final projects come to fruition. 

“Making investments in our neighborhoods with quality, well-maintained parks and public spaces is an essential part of the solution toward a safer and more vibrant Akron for the long-term,” said Akron Mayor Shammas Malik. “We are putting community-led design and decision-making at the core of park improvements, which leads to more active, vibrant spaces and stronger communities.”

This is the sixth Akron Parks Challenge and has since invested more than $3 million into city parks, according to the City of Akron.

“It is an intense process with community engagement at the heart of the work, and we are so grateful for the time and talent that neighbors give to see the projects through to completion,” states Bridget Ambrisco, Akron Parks collaborative executive director.