1970, when the Quaker Oats Co. packed up its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, and resettled in Chicago, the run-down factories and grain silos it left behind were likely candidates for the wrecking ball. But that was before an enterprising group of developers, led primarily by Akron architects Ted Curtis and Harold Rasmussen, stepped into the picture. Now the one-time eyesore in the heart of the city is playing a major role in the revitalization of Akron's downtown. Today it is known as "Quaker Square," a block-long cluster of shops, offices, restaurants and the piece de resistance: the country's only hotel built inside an array of grain silos, dubbed the Oatmeal Hilton by locals. The
