AKRON, Ohio - Kenmore is coming into its own as Akron's blue-collar music hub, and the neighborhood plans to celebrate at Better Block Kenmore 2017.

Better Blocks, which have taken place in North Hill, Middlebury and Cuyahoga Falls, aim to showcase and reactivate neighborhoods, while introducing amenities that help them become more vibrant communities.

Sponsored through a $50,000 Knight Foundation grant, and the Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance, Better Block Kenmore will take place Friday, Sept. 1, from 5 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 2 from noon to 5 p.m. Organizers are billing the fest "For those about to rock (and hip hop) ... a walkable, bikable, enjoyable place for rockers, rollers and strollers alike."

The Kenmore Boulevard business district, primarily between 14th and 16th streets, will host the festival, offering a coffee shop with outdoor seating, movie theater, record store, art and photography galleries, fresh local produce, food trucks, a beer garden and an adapted street design with slower traffic and protected bike lanes. Check here for a list of pop-up shops.

The event also will include games, workshops and an interactive mural by local artist Mac Love -- a current Knight Cities Challenge winner -- which attendees will help to paint.

All are based on concepts Kenmore residents recommended during a June survey.

"Making Akron more vibrant means providing people with opportunities to contribute to neighborhood vibrancy and shape their public spaces," said Knight Akron Program Director Kyle Kutuchief in a statement. "The Kenmore Neighborhood Alliance's plan to engage the community in the revitalization of a key business district in Akron will help us move closer to this goal, and act as a model for future efforts."

Kenmore Boulevard is also the neighborhood's musical backbone. It's home to the Rialto Theatre, a live music venue and studio, the Guitar Department, a new and used consignment shop that offers music lessons, and Lays Guitar Shop, known since the '60s for top-quality repairs and restoration, that's frequented by Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach and Cleveland native Joe Walsh.

Kenmore also boasts seven recording studios, five right on the Boulevard, so it follows that the Better Block will highlight Kenmore's music businesses, as well as bands and musicians who live or regularly play in the community. The festival line-up ranges from up-and-comers like Outdated View to festival headliner, The Living Deads. Check here for the line-up.

Event organizers have even put out a call to local musicians to audition to serve as street entertainers during the festival.

"Kenmore isn't your typical performers' neighborhood; we're a place with talented, blue-collar musicians and they make things," said Better Block Chair Tina Boyes. "Lay's Guitar, the Guitar Department, our studios: they're all about honing a craft. We thought it would be cool to have some seasoned, well-known musicians busking like the good old days alongside some up-and-coming talent to showcase a bit of that blue-collar, we're-all-in-this-together type of work ethic."

As for seasoned talent, Kenmore native Jim Ballard, who's recorded nine albums and performed around Northeast Ohio and beyond for decades, collaborated with Kenmore musicians and studios on the song "Bones of the Boulevard," which will debut at the Jilly's Music Room Stage Saturday at 1 p.m. during Rachel Brown & The Beatnik Playboys.

Beyond music, the event will also celebrate the newly combined Kenmore-Garfield football team. The schools were rivals for decades but now are merging as Akron Public Schools works to overcome state funding cuts.

At at 4:45 p.m. on Friday Sept. 1, residents are invited to line the westbound lanes of Kenmore Boulevard to cheer the football team's bus as it turns the 13th Street corner and makes its way to Barberton Stadium for a 7 p.m. game.

"Our players need to know we have their backs," said head coach Kemp Boyd in a news release. "There's a psychological benefit to seeing our communities come together, and we hope it pays off on and off the football field."

According to Boyes, the affects of the Better Blocks are already being felt.

"We're already getting approached by small business owners considering setting up shop here and these are businesses who never thought of opening here," she said. "It all has potential to become permanent. That's what Better Block is all about."

Better Block Kenmore is seeking volunteers to help build and paint, plant flowers, take surveys and promote the event to the public. For more information or to get involved, visit Better Block Kenmore or the Facebook page.

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