U. of Akron Moves Students to—No Kidding—a Grain Elevator

This week some University of Akron students moved into dormitory rooms with unusual histories and even more unusual shapes: They’re round.

The rooms are in Akron’s 1932 Quaker Oats grain elevator, whose 36 silos—each 120 feet tall and 24 feet in diameter—were once capable of holding 1,500,000 bushels of grain. Quaker Oats stopped using the elevator in 1970, and eventually it was converted to a hotel with eight floors of rooms.

According to WKYC-TV, in Cleveland, the university purchased the hotel because it is planning to demolish some of its existing dormitories to free up space for a new football stadium. Students currently occupy floors five through eight, while the lower floors still accommodate hotel guests. But eventually those too will house students.