AKRON, Ohio -- The Rubber Bowl was once a stage for Ringo Starr, Black Sabbath and University of Akron football games. The Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin played at the stadium in south Akron, too.

But the only things on display in the most recent round of images to come out of the vacant 37,000-seat stadium, captured by Akron photojournalist Seph Lawless, are shattered windows, moss and grime.

The former home of the Zips was built as a federal Public Works Administration project during the Great Depression. It opened in 1939, closed in 2009 when the Zips moved into InfoCision Stadium and has since sat empty.

There are still plans to reopen the stadium, according to Bill Dunn, whose Team1 Properties bought the Rubber Bowl for $38,000 in 2013. Summit County reappraised the property from $23.7 million to $2.5 million, shaving just shy of $700,000 off the new owners' tax bill, the Beacon Journal reported.

Plans to repurpose the facility into a home for a United States Football League team fell through, Dunn said, as did funding to refurbish the venue.

But the group now claims to have new backers and a new team. A crew is expected to start cleaning seats this weekend.

"We are going to put it back where it was, but with all the updated amenities," Dunn said.

The investor would not provide a dollar figure on renovations to put the stadium back in operating condition.

"I'm not going to write a check for it, if that tells you anything," Dunn said. "It's pretty substantial."

If things go right, he says the stadium could be open in six to eight months.Dunn said that despite the grimy appearance, the stadium remains structurally sound and ripe for a renovation project.

"Those photos really show the worst parts of the stadium," Dunn said. "Most of the damage is cosmetic."

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