A Building with a Famous Past
Many people have seen the building near the corner of Main and North High Street with the large clock on it, but not many know about its famous past. The Everett Building, named for its past owner Sylvester Everett, has been an office building for most of its history. Before this, though, it was a nationally renowned opera house.
With growing business, the population of Akron began to grow, and subsequently the increasing mix of culture and art did too. Several theaters opened up, galleries, and a rise of artists came about. One of the first theaters was the Academy of Music which opened up its stage in 1871. Started by William R. Carver, the effort to build quickly ran out of money. He then enlisted his friend, John F. Seiberling (father of F.A. Seiberling, who founded the Goodyear Rubber Company) and together they were able to complete the project. It was a Victorian styled opera house that could seat over 1,000 people. The theater hosted a plethora of types of shows on its uppermost floor including classic Shakespearean plays, comedy shows and burlesque shows. They opened the theater with the scandalous play, Lady Audley’s Secret. The second floor was used as office space and the ground floor hosted the Bank of Akron and a dry goods store. On the lower level was a tavern and a popular billiards room.1
Shakespeare’s Grand Finale
It was on a Sunday in 1897 when churchgoers and pedestrians saw the theater ablaze. The opera house had fallen into flames, which brought its curtains to a close. Within the store room, John Sebring, a newcomer to town, purposely turned on the burners that caused an explosion after he heard the building was loftily insured. Sebring wanted to claim the profits that would come from the insured goods. Not much remained of the theater when the eight foot statue of William Shakespeare toppled from the roof and fell, shattering on the sidewalk below. With the bustling theater burnt and tattered, the community was enraged. They considered lynching the arsonist, but luckily for Sebring, he ended up in jail instead.2
In the following year, Sylvester Everett began remodeling the theater, turning the remains of the three-story theater into a five-story office building. It was then renamed the Everett Building. Shortly after reopening, it also became home to Akron Public Library. Having this large space on the second floor allowed for the organization to grow and become a great community feature. It offered both books and music through the Tuesday Afternoon Club, and it was a well-used meeting space for various women’s and business organizations. Akron Public Library moved into a new space in 1904.3
Future Plans for the Building
It continued to function as office space throughout the century, until it caught the interest of Tony Troppe, an Akron developer, in 1996. Troppe and his wife invested funds in restoration, renovation, and registration with the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. They still own the building, maintaining a vision to create a thriving downtown community centered on arts and culture.4 Today, the Everett Building hosts local businesses and will soon feature housing for future residents in the heart of the city.
Researched and written by Amanda Leach & Song Vo.
Sources:
1. Price, Mark. Lost Akron, Charleston: The History Press, 2015. Pg. 54-58.
2. Lane, Samuel. Fifty Years and Over of Akron and Summit County,Akron: Beacon Job Department, 1892. Pg. 344.
3. Snook, and Kilner. “Interior of Akron Public Library Everett Building, 1900 Ca.” Interior of Akron Public Library Everett Building, 1900 ca. Summit Memory, December 11, 14AD. https://www.summitmemory.org/digital/collection/ABJarchives/id/530/rec/28.
4. Tony Troppe, Interview, October 23, 2019.