Canal Park

The main entrance and ticket booth at Canal Park, Jul-2009.

A look in at the main seating bowl from above the bleachers in right field.

It’s fun to stay at the YMCA ... that’s the building straight ahead.

• Location: Main Street near Exchange, Akron, Ohio
• Opened: 1997
• Home team: Akron Aeros, Eastern League (1997-present)
• Capacity: 9,297

Chronological Tour: Stop 121

Rating: 4 baseballs

The people in the Rubber City came out in droves, as Canal Park sold out nearly every game in its first three seasons. Akron officials were hoping that the park will be the centerpiece of a downtown resurgence in this fading industrial city.

The park has a few architectural touches that make it look something like a smaller version of Camden Yards or Coors Field.

Unfortunately, while the park has held up fairly well over a dozen years, the Aeros are no longer drawing in the fans like they used to. I returned to the park on a Wednesday night in July 2009, with the club in first place in their division, and the park was nearly empty. The deteriorating economy may be a factor, but according to fans I spoke to at the park, so is the club’s complacency with regard to marketing a once-proud franchise.