Old Akron church reborn as event space
Call it divine inspiration. An old local church sanctuary, which has gone unused for a few years, is now among the area’s newest event spaces, complete with pews that can be moved in and out.
Jack Baker moved his Akron Glass Works into the lower level of a former Presbyterian church near the University of Akron a couple of years ago. Akron Glass Works — a studio and gallery/gift shop — is in the one-time church social hall, below the sanctuary.
This week, Baker said he had been mulling over what to do with the sanctuary, which is lined with stainedglass windows. Turning it into a place for weddings, corporate parties, festivals and other events seemed to be the most feasible idea, he said.
“It’s just a terrific space,” Baker said as he stood in the room — which he has dubbed the Sanctuary event space — in the brick building at 421 Spicer St.
On either side of Baker were pews — which have been unbolted from the floor so they can be put on a cart and rolled in and out of the space.
The building was completed sometime in the 1930s; construction of it was delayed a few years due to the Great Depression. Most recently, the church was home to a Korean Presbyterian Church congregation.
With its lanterns hanging from the ceiling that boasts wood arches, the sanctuary was described as “English Gothic” by the church’s pastor in a 1986 Beacon Journal article on local historical places of worship.
The public can view the space during a free open house from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Workshops will be going on in the Akron Glass Works studio. The gallery will be open for sales.
Baker plans to create chandeliers out of blownglass swirls that will decorate the front of the Sanctuary, where the raised pulpit still stands. In addition to owning Akron Glass Works, Baker is one of the operation’s glass blowers and workshop instructors.
“If someone wants to have a wedding ceremony and have a church atmosphere, we can do that,” leaving the pews in the Sanctuary, said Sandy Holata Diehl, marketing director for Akron Glass Works and an artist specializing in fused glass. “Or we could open the place up, [removing the pews] to have one big room for a corporate holiday party or art fair,” she said.
She figures the space can accommodate about 130 people seated at tables.
Baker envisions Akron Glass Works being used for cocktail parties connected to events upstairs. For example, after a wedding ceremony, guests could move to the lower level while pews are being removed from the Sanctuary and the space is readied for the reception.
“I’m just really excited” that turning the sanctuary into event space opens up more of the building to the community, Baker said. “They don’t make them like this anymore.”
Baker doesn’t own the former church, but rentals of the Sanctuary will go through his business. He hasn’t yet settled on rental costs, though he has hired an event coordinator, Parul Patel, who had a similar job at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens.
This spring, Baker plans to begin renting out rooms on the floor above the Sanctuary. The rooms could be used for artist studios or offices, he said.
Local building contractor Larry Jenco bought the building in October 2014 for $40,000 and started looking for tenants. Meanwhile, Baker’s rent in the Northside district of downtown Akron, which was seeing development, was increasing. Baker, who knew Jenco, moved into the Spicer Street building in August 2016.
With the move, Baker doubled the gallery and also doubled the studio space.
“We’ve been growing. We’ve increased our sales and the capacity for workshops,” Holata Diehl said. “We have 60 people coming here in a weekend for glass-blowing experiences.”
Akron Glass Works employs artists who make items for the shop as well as teach workshops. In addition to Baker and Holata Diehl, who teaches glass fusing, the artists are Sebastian Shepherd, Nate Avery and Christian James, who are glass-blowing artists and instructors, and Mary Nemeth, a glass-blowing and glass-fusing artist who also is an instructor.
Baker’s other business, Architectural Greenery, which supplies and maintains indoor greenery, also is at the former church. The greenery business was a couple of decades old when he decided to try glass blowing in the late 1990s after seeing an exhibit of works by glass artist Dale Chihuly at the Akron Art Museum.
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