A navy blue Fairlawn police SUV stood guard this weekend outside the entrance of the Hilton hotel.
A matching Fairlawn police car was parked a few yards away parallel to Market Street, where shoppers streamed in and out of Summit Mall across the street, most unaware that a piece of the Republican National Convention was so close.
Delegates from Missouri, the Virgin Islands, Guam and Northern Marianas Islands have settled into the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn. And delegates from Oregon are spending the week at the Hilton’s sister property next door, the DoubleTree.
In all, six Summit County hotels are hosting RNC delegations from five states and four territories.
Shuttle buses will carry the delegates back and forth to Cleveland for the RNC events. But expect to run into hundreds of delegates, their friends and family, as they spend their downtime in Akron, too.
Sara Walsh, a Missouri delegate, said she and her husband, Steve Walsh, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, have already mapped out a travel plan.
“I’ve been through Cleveland, but I’m really fascinated more with Akron,” Sara Walsh said. “When Steven and I travel, we love taking in the local culture and flavor.”
What’s on the Walshes’ must-do list?
• Touring the gardens at Stan Hywet Hall.
• Eating at Luigi’s, where they’ve heard about the lines of hungry people snaking out the door.
• And, against the odds, hoping to hitch a ride on a Goodyear blimp.
Sara Walsh was born in Torrance, Calif., near the Goodyear Airship Operations Base and said she’s always been fascinated by the giant airships floating overhead.
“I always wondered who was up there, what would it be like to fly inside,” said Walsh, who works for the Missouri Pharmacy Association.
She is among 52 Missouri RNC delegates. The state is also sending 49 alternate delegates to serve as seat fillers at the convention.
Each of the 101 Missouri representatives heading to Akron may also bring a guest, so Missouri alone could bring more than 200 people to Greater Akron.
Not everyone is happy about staying in Summit County, however, including Missouri Republican Party Chairman John Hancock.
“Back in the old days, when we were a battleground state, we had great hotels,” Hancock told a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter last week when asked about the state delegation’s digs at the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn, which is about a 35-minute drive from the RNC in regular traffic, probably at least twice that during the RNC.
Travel time aside, Hancock must not know the history of the Hilton Akron/Fairlawn or its owner, Rennick Andreoli, president of RDA Management Co. and owner of the oldest Hilton franchise in the world.
The wall behind Andreoli’s desk at the Hilton is covered with photos of Andreoli with political power players, including Jack Kemp, Dick Cheney and former U.S. Presidents George H. W. Bush and Gerald Ford.
There’s also a picture of President Barack Obama, who spent the night at this Hilton July 5, 2012, during his re-election campaign.
On Thursday, Andreoli — who is also part-owner of both the DoubleTree next door and the Sheraton Suites Akron Cuyahoga Falls, where other delegations are staying — and the Hilton’s General Manger Timothy Winter had just wrapped up a meeting with the FBI about security during the RNC when they talked with a reporter.
“Is it extra work with the delegations? Not so much,” Winter said. “We were full last week, we’re full this week.”
The Hilton is a regular stop for musicians who play at Blossom Music Center. When LeBron James — a regular at Beau’s Grille, the hotel’s restaurant — chose to debut his movie, Trainwreck here, producer Judd Apatow and James’ co-stars Amy Schumer and Bill Hader were guests.
Security will be tighter during the RNC, Andreoli said, but nothing like it was for Obama. That, he said, took three weeks of planning for Obama to stay 12 hours in room 464.
Market Street in front of the hotel was closed, local school buses were parked to form a giant yellow fence around the Hilton and sharpshooters lined the hotel roof.
“So when you ask if [the RNC] is a big deal? No, there’s been bigger than this,” Andreoli said. “But this is a big deal for us, a big deal for Akron, for the community.”
Amanda Garrett can be reached at 330-996-3725 or agarrett@thebeaconjournal.com.