Rubber Bowl Bouncing Back?

The Rubber Bowl – an unused, 72-year-old football stadium in Akron, Ohio – is getting auctioned off piece by piece in a plan to revive it as a concerts and events center.

The University of Akron football team played at the stadium until 2009 when it moved to the on-campus InfoCision Stadium.

The 72-year-old Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio, is being torn down so it can rise again.

The deteriorating stadium was sold in May to Team 1 Marketing of Canton for $38,000. The horseshoe-shaped building was built in the 1930s and is covered in graffiti, weeds and crumbling concrete.

Team 1 expects to revive it after the auction. “If it’s not concrete, it’s pretty much going to go,” auctioneer Glenn Witchey said.

Items include iron gates, food carts and sound systems.

The stadium’s turf has been appraised at $180,000.

Investors plan to supply $10 million to $12 million for new turf, an aluminum overdeck system and a prefabricated press box, according to Team 1’s Sean Mason.

The company is also considering adding a dome for $15 million to $20 million.

Team 1 expects to begin construction in the later part of November with a July 4 concert as a goal.

The company does not have rights to the Rubber Bowl name and is already searching for naming rights sponsors.