AKRON, Ohio — Despite shipping and material delays caused by the pandemic, the city of Akron has announced plans to install a 12-foot-tall bronze tire-worker sculpture, designed as a showpiece for the Main Street Corridor project this spring.
The sale of commemorative bricks has also been extended into spring, the city said, for installation near the sculpture of a rubber-worker tribute area.
The sculpture, created by figurative sculptor Alan Cottrill, will be displayed in the center of the reconstructed Main Street in a new roundabout at the intersection of Main and Mill streets.
Cottrill, who is an Ohio artist, has sculpted and cast into bronze more than 500 of his works at Coopermill Bronzeworks in Zanesville. He founded Coopermill Bronzeworks with friend and business partner Charles Leasure.
Cottrill designed Akron’s tire-worker statue to sit atop a tiered, granite base, shaped like Summit County and city of Akron. Delivery of the ornate base was delayed, pushing the November installation into 2021, the city said.
However, installation also requires warmer temperatures so the materials don’t become damaged and increase the cost of the project, said Akron Director of Public Service Chris Ludle in a news release.
Plans are now set for a late spring installation.
“By delaying the installation of the statue, we also hope to be able to host an outdoor unveiling ceremony and incorporate more public participation, in accordance with then-current health guidelines,” Ludle said in the release.
The city will announce a date once it is definitive.
Phase 1 wrapped up last October.
Phase 2 is underway now with the final segment of Main Street closed in both directions from Market Street to Mill Street until May 31.
Near the sculpture installation, the city has created a tribute area for Akron rubber workers and their families, which is designed to enable people to safely engage with the art.
The tribute will include historic plaques describing the contributions women and African Americans made to the rubber industry in Akron, which spurred decades-long growth and gave Akron the tagline “rubber capital of the world."
“This statue will stand as a monument to Akron’s rubber history and most importantly to all those men and women whose labor this city was built on,” Mayor Dan Horrigan said in the release. “We want to appropriately honor this important symbol of Akron’s working class ingenuity by allowing the community to participate safely and comfortably in this important occasion.”
The city has also launched the Rubber Worker Stories Project in partnership with the Art X Love Studio & Gallery.
In the project, audio and visual stories from rubber workers and their descendants are being collected and archived in the University of Akron’s Rubber Industry Archives.
An interactive kiosk, which will be installed at the tribute area, will display excerpts from selected stories along with archival footage.
The tribute area will also feature a structure built with engraved, commemorative bricks, which are helping fund the Rubber Worker Stories Project.
So far, 1,068 bricks have been sold and 88 interviews recorded, with story collection ongoing, the city said.
Commemorative bricks are available to anyone for $100 per brick, and can be purchased online through April 30 at Akron Stories website. You can also share a story online at Akron Stories.