Timeline: In 1855, the first pediatric hospital opened in Philadelphia followed soon by similar facilities in Boston and New York City as the public began to recognize the needs of the young, both medically and socially. By 1913 there were 28 children’s hospitals across the country.

Timeline: In 1865, English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgon, under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll, publishes Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Services: Two circles of The Daughters of the King - The Heart and Hand Circle at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and The Wayside Circle at First Congregational - establish a Day Nursery to give a home during the day to the children of working women.

Bricks and mortar: Col. George Tod Perkins donates a house at 406 S. High St. to allow the nursery to expand.

Timeline: The Akron Day Nursery is renamed Mary Day Nursery in honor of Col. George Tod Perkins' first granddaughter, Mary Perkins Raymond.

Timeline: Flora E. Hanchett is the first matron of the Akron Day Nursery.

Services: The Mary Day Nursery adds a kindergarten, which is the forerunner of kindergartens in the Akron Public Schools.

Philanthropy: The First Mary Day Nursery Ball is held at Albert Hall, 140-144 S. Main St. The gala raised money for the nursery and kindergarten. It was renamed the Charity Ball in 1897.

Bricks and mortar: Col. George Tod Perkins builds a new home for the nursery at 43 Buchtel St.

Philanthropy: The Mary Day Nursery Ball is called the Charity Ball for the first time. Admission is $1.50. The Charity Ball has remained a community tradition, except for an 8-year hiatus in the early years. It continued through both World Wars, and 1951, the presentation of the debutantes, was added. It is a major fundraiser for Akron Children's to this day.

Timeline: In 1900, Hershey's began producing milk chocolate in bars, wafers and other shapes. With mass production, Hershey was able to lower the per-unit cost and make milk chocolate, once a luxury item for the wealthy, affordable to all.

Services: Six doctors are selected by the Executive Board to be the Ward's first staff: James P. Boyd, William S. Chase, Thomas K. Moore and surgeons Harold H. Jacobs, James W. Rabe and George T. Rankin. Dr. Chase is named Chief.

Services: The Mary Day Nursery opens a ward for crippled children in a room vacated by the kindergarten. The ward is operated in cooperation with Akron City Hospital.

Timeline: The facility is incorporated as the Mary Day Nursery and Ward for Crippled Children.

Services: Elsie Meade, a graduate of Akron City Hospital's school of nursing, is hired as a visiting nurse to deal with cases of children ages 12 and under.

Bricks and mortar: Before his death, Col. George Tod Perkins had approved plans to add a 6-ward hospital to the facility. The name is changed to Mary Day Nursery and Children's Hospital. It houses 50 beds and is hailed at its opening as "having more beds pro-rata than any other city in the country." One dollar a day for a bed was the fee. Indigent families were not charged. Private rooms were $20 a week and use of the operating room (OR) cost $5. The per capita cost of running the facility was $1.36.

Timeline: The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated on Feb. 8, 1910, under the laws of the District of Columbia, by W. D. Boyce. On June 21, 1910, 34 national representatives of boys’ work agencies met to establish the Boy Scouts of America.

Timeline: The John C. Williams Co. of New York designs a bronze tablet to be installed in the new hospital as a tribute to Col. George Tod Perkins. At the top of the plaque is the figure of a baby, a della Robbia "bambino" with the Latin inscription: "Fides, Spes, Charitas" or "faith, hope , charity."

Timeline: Juliette Gordon Low founds the Girl Scouts of the United States of America in 1912 after she met Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, in 1911.

Timeline: Cracker Jacks introduces "A Prize in Every Box" when it inserts toys into every package.

Philanthropy: Mrs. George T. Perkins donates funds to build a nurses' home.

Education: The need for trained nurses was growing and that included training nurses in the care of infants and children. In November 1915 Akron City Hospital and People's Hospital (now Akron General Medical Center) began sending nurses for a 2-month training at Children's Hospital with the proviso that the 2 adult institutions would not receive youngsters but send them to Children's.

Education: Children's Hospital officially begins nursing education program.

Philanthropy: Children's, Akron City and People's Hospitals jointly raise more than $400,000 in a fundraising campaign.

Services: Because of the need for space for hospital patients, the Mary Day Nursery separates from the hospital and moves to a house at 312 Locust St.

Services: Children's Hospital opens an eye clinic to treat conditions of the eye, ear, nose and throat.

Services: Children's Hospital recruits Dr. Walter Hoyt to organize and head its department of orthopedic surgery. He also served as chief of staff from 1919-1923, 1928 and 1943.

Services: An infantile paralysis (polio) clinic opens at Children's Hospital.

Timeline: George Hansburg patents his pogo stick.

Recognition: The American Hospital Association accredits Children's Hospital for the first time.

Timeline: Arthur Bauss is named hospital superintendent. He serves until 1927.

Education: Children's hires its first teacher to help patients keep up with their school work while they are hospitalized.

Education: Children's Hospital's nurses' instructional program is named a training school for nurses in children's diseases by the Ohio State Department of Registration. Children's had been affiliated with 4 schools of nursing since 1916. In 1920, student nurses from Akron City, People's, Lutheran Hospital in Cleveland and Alliance City Hospital participated in Children's 3-month course.

Recognition: Akron Children's is named one of 10 hospitals in the U.S. rated "first class" for children.

Services: Akron's Junior League agrees to manage the Mary Day Nursery with the hospital continuing its financial support.

Services: The first dentist joins Children's Hospital's medical staff.

Timeline: The first polio epidemic strikes Children's Hospital. This is a significant harbinger of what lies ahead for Akron's children. Flare-ups continued with the next epidemic reported in 1933 when 50 cases were reported. A "mild epidemic" followed in 1940.

Timeline: The iron lung is invented and becomes a valuable tool in the battle against polio.

Education: Children's Hospital has the first approved residency program for pediatric specialists in Akron, one of only 59 hospitals then to have American Medical Association approval for "Residencies in Specialties." Children's program has been continuously approved since then.

Timeline: Garnet Carter patents a game of miniature golf, which he called "Tom Thumb Golf."

Recognition: Children's Hospital is awarded high ratings by the American College of Surgeons for the superior quality of its facilities and patient care.

Timeline: Henry H. Graef replaces Arthur Bauss as superintendent of Children's Hospital.

Education: Dr. Noah Miller becomes Children's Hospital's first pediatric resident. He went on to be chief of staff for several years and also a chairman of pediatrics.

Timeline: Mickey Mouse is born and becomes the official mascot of The Walt Disney Co. On Nov. 18, 1928, he makes his first appearance in Steamboat Willie.

Bricks and mortar: The new hospital building at the corner of W. Buchtel and Bowery streets opens on Feb. 1, 1928.

Philanthropy: Funds from the city and the Better Akron Foundation helped Children's Hospital keep afloat following the stock market crash in 1929.

Timeline: Ernie Bushmiller introduces Nancy in the comic strip Fritzi Ritz on Jan. 2, 1933.

Recognition: The American Pediatric Society selects Akron Children's as one of 25 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada to help formulate a set of medical standards for hospitals.

Recognition: Akron Children's is rated among the "first 12 hospitals regardless of size or location" in North America by a survey of the American Academy of Pediatrics. And once again the American College of Surgeons and American Medical Association give Children's a top rating.

Timeline: At age 3, Shirley Temple appears in Bright Eyes, her first film.

Recognition: Children's Hospital's Luetic Clinic led by Drs. Myrl M. Miller and Carl E. Krill, Sr. is considered one of the best in the country. The Federal government awarded the clinic special recognition for its work with children afflicted with syphilis in 1939.

Timeline: On Aug. 12, 1935, the All-American Soap Box Derby comes to Akron where it is still a strong annual event.

Timeline: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Fair Labor Standards Act into law, which set the modern day standards against child labor in the United States.

Timeline: The Hokey Pokey is introduced.

Breakthroughs: Dr. Carl Krill pens an article (with other physicians) for the Journal of the American Medical Association linking elective surgeries (especially tonsillectomies) performed in the warm months with the onset of the severe form of bulbar poliomyelitis.

Recognition: Orthopedist Dr. Walter Hoyt, along with Drs. Adrian Davis and George Van Buren, are recognized for their successful treatment of osteomyelitis (an infection of the bone and bone marrow.) In recognition of their outstanding contribution to medical science, the American Academy of Orthopaedics presents Gold Medals to Drs. Hoyt and Davis and honorable mention to Dr. Van Buren.

Timeline: Ellen Stahlnecker is named hospital administrator in 1942 and resigns in 1943.

Timeline: Akron Children's admits 20 percent of all polio patients (208) in Ohio, making it the polio center of the state.

Services: Gray Ladies are organized to help alleviate the nurse shortage due to WWII. They perform routine chores to free nurses' time for patient care.

Timeline: Roger Sherman becomes the president of Children's Hospital, a post he holds until 1979.

Philanthropy: With WWII at an end, Children's raises $678,000 for expansion.

Timeline: American children's magazine Highlights is published for children ages 6-12. The monthly magazine includes puzzles, jokes, crafts, articles and silly stories. It remains a staple in homes today.

Timeline: Charlie Brown first appears in 1947, 3 years before Peanuts started, in a comic strip by Charles M. Schulz called Li'l Folks. He later appears in the first Peanuts comic strip on Oct. 2, 1950. He is one of the most well known characters in Peanuts and is considered to be the main character in the strip.

Timeline: Akron Children's is pushed beyond its capacity with 415 polio cases. Acute cases are kept at Children's while less severely affected patients are housed next door at the Grace Evangelical and Reformed Church.

Timeline: The National Little League Tournament is held in 1947 at South Williamsport, PA. It was later renamed the Little League Baseball World Series and is held every August for children ages 11 to 13.

Bricks and mortar: The first phase of an expansion program at Akron Children's is completed. It includes 3 floors and 2 lower levels. Children's also purchases an apartment house for nurses.

Bricks and mortar: The second phase of construction, begun in 1945, is completed. It includes updates to the X-ray and physiotherapy departments, a new lobby and a clinical lab.

Education: Children's establishes the School of Radiologic Technology.

Services: Akron Children's establishes an electroencephalographic (EEG) lab, blood bank and bone bank, as well as the speech and hearing clinic.

Services: Children's Hospital Women's Board forms and participates in a new volunteer program in the admitting and outpatient departments.

Timeline: Children's Hospital's polio cases reach a high of 613. A power outage in July cuts off all electricity including secondary line service to the iron lungs, which kept polio patients alive by assisting their breathing. Staff flag down passing motorists to help manually work the "rocking beds" to keep the patients alive until power is restored 2 hours later.

Education: Akron Children's, Akron General Medical Center and Summa Health System Hospitals jointly establish Cooperative Medical Technology Program.

Timeline: Dr. Jonas E. Salk develops a polio vaccine to be given in a series of 3 injections.

Timeline: The 24-acre Akron Children’s Zoo, a menagerie of Mother Goose themes, opens.

Services: Children's hires Mrs. C.W. Frank as its first full-time volunteer director. She was replaced 3 months later by Mrs. John (Marge) Sammons.

Services: The Women's Board launches Friends of Children's Hospital, a women's auxiliary, to aid the hospital in various ways.

Philanthropy: A building fund drive for Children's Hospital raises $2.3 million to add 5 new floors and surgery facilities as well as establish a new radiology department.

Services: The Children's Hospital Women's Board opens a hospital gift shop, with proceeds benefitting the hospital.

Services: Children's Hospital scores another first when the Ohio State Board of Nursing approves the patient recreational program supervised by student nurses.

Services: Children's initiates its Candy Striper volunteer program for teens, making Children's the only pediatric hospital using teen volunteers in direct patient contact.

Services: Children's Hospital opens Cystic Fibrosis Center with Dr. Lewis Walker at the helm.

Timeline: Pinkie the Puppet is introduced. Pinkie is a small hand puppet given to all inpatients under the age of 12 and is funded by the Friends of Children's Hospital.

Timeline: America's teens take to the dance floor when American Bandstand debuts.

Bricks and mortar: Children's begins construction of its education building, which includes an auditorium and classrooms for interns and nurses. Biochemistry and clinical research labs are expanded, as well as the laundry and maintenance shop.

Timeline: Originally marketed as the "Pluto Platter," the Wham-O toy company changed the name of the flying disc to Frisbee in June 1957 after learning that college students in the Northeast were calling it by that name. The Frisbee was invented by Walter Frederick "Fred" Morrison.

Timeline: Dr. Bertram Katz and his surgical team perform the world's first successful separation of conjoined twins sharing a vital organ occurs at Northside Hospital in Youngstown, OH.

Services: Children's Hospital establishes a Poison Control Center.

Timeline: Mattel Creations introduces Barbie. The doll was created by Ruth Handler who said Barbie was inspired by her young daughter, Barbara, and her fascination with teenage life and love for fashion dolls. "My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices." - Ruth Handler

Services: Friends of Children's Hospital launch Friendly Twigs, an arts and crafts group who assemble craft kits for patients.

Services: Children's Hospital builds cardiac catheterization lab. Dr. John D. Kramer is the director.

Philanthropy: Friends of Children's Hospital holds the first annual Harness Race Rally, still a popular fundraiser today.

Breakthroughs: Akron Children's jumps into the computer age with help from IBM. Children's is the nation's pilot facility for the program later known as HIS, Hospital Information System.

Timeline: The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. Their first appearance on the American TV variety show is considered a milestone in American pop culture and the beginning of the British Invasion in music. The broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers, a record for U.S. television at the time.

Services: Children's Hospital adds a virology lab.

Services: Akron Children's established the Cytogenetics laboratory. Cytogenetics is involves the study of the structure and function of the cell, especially the chromosomes. The lab is named for Nona Scaife, the first medical technologist to work with Dr. Margaret Baker in developing the laboratory processes and procedures.

Breakthroughs: Multiphasic screening was instituted for all patients at Akron Children's. This is the the routine use of multiple tests to help detect diseases at a preventable or curable stage.

Services: Akron Children's adds electro-diagnostic lab.

Timeline: Akron Children's admits more than 13,000 patients, more than any other pediatric hospital in the U.S.

Timeline: Children's Hospital establishes the Employee Foundation, which raises funds to help charitable agencies in the community and provide scholarships to children of employees. It comprises all employees and is run by an Employee Foundation Council (EFC) with representatives elected by departments.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's completes the Margaret Stone Labs, which allow its pathology department to expand, and adds 2 floors to its education building.

Services: Akron Children's offers babysitting for employees' preschool children for 45 cents an hour with a fee of 25 cents per hour for each additional child. This fee included diapers, food, snacks, lunch and supervised play.

Timeline: Mister Rogers Neighborhood, created by Fred Rogers, debuts nationally on U.S. Network NET, the forerunner of PBS. The half-hour children's TV series is aimed at children ages 2 to 5.

Timeline: Sesame Street airs for the first time on public broadcasting stations on Nov. 10, 1969.

Breakthroughs: Akron Children's is 1 of 3 hospitals in the nation to test a prototype transport incubator.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's builds a dormitory for student nurses.

Services: Akron Children's opens a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Services: Akron Children's establishes a social services (social work) department. Mary LoCasio is the first director.

Philanthropy: The Akron Children's Foundation is established by the Board of Trustees to secure funds to aid the hospital's mission.

Education: Akron Children's adds a medical library, called the Mary A. Hower Health Science Library, to its education building.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's launches a building fund campaign with a goal of $5 million. As part of the expansion, Children's will open a new areas for the ER, admitting, rehabilitation, medical records, radiology and other departments.

Breakthroughs: Akron Children's is the first to grow human skin in the lab. Howard J. Igel, MD Clifford Boeckman, MD, and Aaron Freeman, Ph.D. collaborated in this effort that revolutionized burn treatment. They developed the process while doing cancer research.

Philanthropy: In March 1974, WHLO holds a radiothon during the "Candy Striper Caper" to support Children's Hospital's $5 million building campaign. The weekend radiothon raises $158,000, surpassing its $100,000 goal.

Recognition: The Employee Foundation establishes the Distinguished Service Award to recognize contributions in leadership, dedication, loyalty and service to Akron Children's. Hospital president Roger J. Sherman is the first recipient.

Philanthropy: Children's Hospital receives a 1-year, $20,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Health to develop a stimulation program involving premature newborns transferred to Children's from distant cities. Often these infants suffer from a lack of family contact that most healthy babies receive after birth. As part of the program, the preemies will be stimulated by touch, sound, light and movement until they are discharged.

Philanthropy: Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. gives $500,000 to Children's Hospital's building fund and issues a $100,000 campaign challenge. Goodyear is the first rubber company to pledge to the building fund.

Services: Akron Children's establishes a department of psychiatry, with Dr. Chris VanDevere as its first director.

Recognition: Akron Children's establishes the John B. Hower Award in Pediatric Neurology to honor a dedicated Board of Trustees member. The award has become a major international award in the field of pediatric neurology, with recipients selected by a committee of the Child Neurology Society.

Services: Children's Hospital begins one of the first suture programs in the country.

Timeline: Atari introduces Pong, a tennis sports game featuring simple 2-dimensional graphics. It is one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity.

Timeline: Advertising executive Gary Dahl comes up with the idea of a pet rock after listening to his friends complain about their pets being too much trouble and costing too much money. He said a pet rock was an ideal pet - easy and cheap.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's opens an outpatient wing. The wing includes a new emergency department, admitting area, elevator tower, enlarged radiology department, gift shop, Mary A. Hower lobby, new outpatient and clinic facilities, outpatient lab, parent lobbies on each floor, and rehabilitation services.

Education: Children's becomes the teaching hospital for pediatrics and pathology for Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, which is now called Northeast Ohio Medical University.

Services: Under the direction of Dr. Haynes Robinson, Children's opens a genetics clinic to help diagnose and manage genetic conditions, birth defects and developmental delays.

Philanthropy: The Akron Children's Foundation establishes the Annual Fund drive to ensure the hospital will be able to fulfill its promise to the community.

Timeline: The original Broadway musical Annie debuts at Alvin Theatre in New York City.

Timeline: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) bans lead paint in residential properties and public buildings, along with toys and furniture containing lead paint. Lead poisoning can cause nervous system damage, stunted growth, kidney damage and delayed development. Children under the age of 6 are especially at risk because they tend to put their hands or other objects, which may be contaminated with lead dust, into their mouths.

Timeline: Children's becomes a true medical center and changes its name from Akron Children's to Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron to better reflect the broad scope of services offered. A new logo is designed by F. Eugene Smith and is first used in 1978. It is a stylized version of the della Robbia bambino.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital builds a Level III 59-bed NICU.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital builds a 35-bed adolescent and orthopedic unit.

Services: At the request of local adult hospitals, Akron Children's opens a burn center to treat all children and adult burn victims in a 17-county area. Children's is 1 of only 2 pediatric hospitals in the U.S. with a burn unit that treats adult burn patients.

Timeline: On July 25, 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the world's first successful "test-tube" baby, was born in Great Britain.

Services: Children's Hospital opens inpatient psychiatric unit for children and teens.

Education: Children's Hospital opens school classroom in cooperation with Akron Public Schools.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital opens new medical/surgical unit.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital completes new kitchen/cafeteria.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital renovates its adolescent unit.

Services: Children's Hospital opens activity rooms for patients.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital enlarges social services department.

Services: Children's Hospital and Akron City Hospital establish the "2-roof" Regional Perinatal Center.

Services: Children's Hospital launches child life program to help patients and their families cope before, during and after a medical procedure or hospital stay. With backgrounds in human growth and development, education, psychology and counseling, child life specialists are trained to reduce stress and anxiety for children and families.

Timeline: At the age of 32, William H. Considine is named president of Children's Hospital, a position he holds till this day. He is the longest serving president at any pediatric hospital.

Breakthroughs: Children's Hospital Chief of Surgery Dr. Clifford Boeckman performs the first bowel-lengthening surgery. This procedure becomes the standard of care in the U.S., Canada and England.

Services: Children's Hospital establishes a division of adolescent medicine with Dr. James Fitzgibbon as director.

Services: Children's Hospital collaborates with Kent State University to establish the Family Child Learning Center to work with young children with developmental concerns and their families. Located in Tallmadge, Ohio, the center is a nationally-recognized research and training program.

Services: Children's Hospital establishes a division of nephrology to diagnose and treat children with kidney diseases.

Services: Children's Hospital, Akron City, Akron General, Barberton Citizens and St. Thomas form a Sports Medicine Consortium with Dr. Walter Hoyt, Jr., as the medical director.

Philanthropy: Children's Hospital's volunteer department launches the Holiday Tree Festival as a major fundraiser and Children's gift to the community. Admission is free and proceeds from the sale of fully decorated Christmas trees benefit Children's.

Timeline: Trivial Pursuit, created by Canadians Chris Haney and Scott Abbott, is introduced in the U.S. and begins a rebirth in the board games industry.

Philanthropy: Children's Hospital's Employee Foundation launches the Kids Are #1 Run to benefit special projects at the hospital and in the community.

Services: Children's Hospital's burn center establishes a skin bank in cooperation with the Shriners' Burn Institute in Cincinnati.

Services: Children's Hospital's radiology department purchases its first CT scanner.

Services: Children's Hospital opens a kidney dialysis center to diagnose and treat babies, children and teens suffering from chronic or acute kidney failure.

Breakthroughs: Children's becomes an affiliate of the Children's Cancer Study Group (CCG), a U.S. and Canadian clinical trial cooperative created with the mission of studying childhood cancers. The CCG merged with several other pediatric cooperative groups in 2000 to form the Children's Oncology Group (COG).

Timeline: On Aug. 10, 1983, the action film Red Dawn, starring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, became the first-ever PG-13 movie to be released in theaters. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) introduced the PG-13 category to indicate film content with a “higher level of intensity.”

Services: The sports medicine center opens, with Dr. William Moat as the director. Participating hospitals include Children's, Akron City, Barberton Citizens and St. Thomas.

Timeline: The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is introduced and becomes an instant hit. Over the course of the next 2 years, it almost single-handedly revitalizes the video game industry.

Breakthroughs: Barbie Emler becomes Children's Hospital's first kidney transplant patient.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital purchases the adjacent Locust Professional Building.

Bricks and mortar: The Ronald McDonald House of Akron opens, providing a "home away from home" for families with children or burn victims who are patients at Children's Hospital. The 17,000-square-foot house has 20 bedrooms.

Services: Stark and Summit country firefighters start ACBC (Aluminum Cans for Burned Children) to collect and recycle aluminum cans to raise money to help Children's Hospital burn victims with expenses not covered by insurance.

Philanthropy: Children's Hospital participates in the Children's Miracle Network Telethon for the first time. The CMN telethon is sponsored nationally by the Osmond Foundation.

Philanthropy: The Children's Circle is born to recognize a distinguished group of donors who make Akron Children’s Hospital a priority in their philanthropy. This special group allows the hospital to fulfill its mission to provide quality care to all children, regardless of their ability to pay.

Services: Children's Hospital develops a child advocacy initiative to address concerns such as violence and injury prevention, healthcare for the uninsured, and health education and promotion.

Services: Children's Hospital renovates its radiology department to include a nuclear medicine unit.

Services: Children's Hospital launches Phone-A-Friend, an after-school help line for latch-key kids.

Services: Children's Hospital establishes the CARE (Children's at Risk Evaluation) Center to evaluate and initiate treatment for physically and sexually abused children. Dr. R. Daryl Steiner is the director.

Services: Children's Hospital opens a sports medicine center independently as the first pediatric sports medicine center in Ohio. Dr. Joseph Congeni is director.

Services: The hospital launches Children's Home Care Group to care for children who require special care but do not need the full services of a hospital.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital expands Locust Professional Building.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital enlarges and relocates its cytogenetics laboratory. Cytogenetics includes the study of the structure and function of the cell, especially the chromosomes.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital breaks ground on its $71 million Centennial Building and Renovation project. The project includes an 8-story, 250,000-square-foot addition to the hospital, renovation of its existing building, construction of a new parking deck, and the redesign of Perkins Square Park.

Philanthropy: Children's Hospital celebrates its centennial with a gala at the Akron Civic Theater, featuring pop singer Marie Osmond.

Services: Children's Hospital launches the PATHS program to provide social, medical, educational and employment support services to at-risk adolescents in Summit County. The program serves as an after-school diversion program, under the guidance of Iris Meltzer.

Services: With funding of $1 million from the Ohio Department of Education, the Decker Family Development Center opens in Barberton, Ohio, as a collaborative among Children's Hospital, Barberton City Schools, the University of Akron, the Summit County Department of Human Services, and Akron-Summit Community Action Agency. The center provides comprehensive social, medical, educational and mental health services to low-income, at-risk parents and their preschool children. The Decker Center earns numerous local, state and national awards for its programming.

Breakthroughs: Children's Hospital's Chief of Surgery Dr. Clifford R. Boeckman performs the first pediatric laparoscopic gallbladder removal surgery in the U.S. The 19-month-old child is thought to be the youngest patient to undergo this procedure to date.

Services: Children's establishes Safe Kids Coalition for Summit County with community partners representing regional health agencies, businesses, fire and police departments, and other county-wide agencies. Based at Children's, Safe Kids promotes and implements strategies to prevent childhood injuries through community awareness, education and public policy changes. They also develop and evaluate community projects designed to prevent unintentional injuries.

Services: Children's Hospital establishes an on-site MRI. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a safe and painless test that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to produce detailed pictures of the body's organs and structures. Unlike CT scans or X-rays, MRI doesn't use radiation.

Recognition: First Lady Barbara Bush visits the Decker Family Development Center. Tipper Gore, wife of vice-president elect Al Gore, visits Children's Hospital.

Services: The Ohio Department of Health approves Children's Hospital's bone marrow transplant program.

Services: Children's Hospital launches a health information and physician referral phone line called Ask Children's. It is headed by Sherry Valentine, RN.

Services: The Doggie Brigade bounds into the hearts of Children's Hospital patients and staff alike. A program of the volunteer department, it is the country's second pet visitation program at a children's hospital.

Bricks and mortar: Children's Hospital's Centennial Modernization and Renovation Project is completed. The 250,000-square-foot addition houses 104 private medical/surgical rooms with sleeping accommodations for parents, 59-bed NICU, 12-bed PICU, 10-bed child and 14-bed adolescent psychiatric unit, a surgery suite with 8 ORs, a new ER, parent and family support space, a parent library, chapel, and a new main entrance, lobby and atrium. In addition, a 362-space parking deck is added and Perkins Square Park is redesigned and renovated, making it the hospital's front yard and emphasizing its historical significance to the city of Akron and the hospital.

Timeline: The Sony PlayStation is introduced in Japan in 1994, and in North America and Europe the following year. It changes the future of video gaming.

Recognition: The American Hospital Association grants the Decker Family Development Center the NOVA Award for its innovative collaboration between the hospital and other community groups.

Services: Ask Children's begins offering Children's After Hours to help families after pediatrician offices owned and operated by Children's Hospital close for the day. In 1997, the service expands to include private physicians throughout Ohio and beyond.

Services: The first Children's Hospital Physician Associates (CHPA) office opens in Fairlawn, followed closely by a Twinsburg office. The name of CHPA was later changed to Akron Children's Pediatrics (ACHP).

Philanthropy: The New Philadelphia Wal-Mart and the East Central Ohio Loggers Chapter present the first Forest Heritage Festival, an entertaining and hands-on celebration of our forest resources. The festival showcases the work of professional woodland stewards and the products, tools and expertise of the forest industry. Proceeds from the festival, which is held at the Tuscarawas County Fairgrounds in Dover, Ohio, are donated to Akron Children's. It is an annual event.

Services: Children's Hospital forms the Parent Advisory Council to give parents a voice and input into hospital services. It also offers help and support to parents from parents who have children with chronic or terminal illness.

Timeline: Children's Hospital's first website springs to life.

Timeline: Tyco Toys introduces Tickle Me Elmo and it quickly creates a shopping craze due to the scarcity of the new toy.

Services: A new Children's Hospital Physicians (CHPA) office is opened in Green. There are now three locations in the hospital's primary care network. The network is now known as Akron Children's Pediatrics (ACHP)

Recognition: Children's Hospital burn center earns verification status from the American College of Surgeons and the American Burn Association. Only 15 centers of the 128 in the U.S. and Canada have earned this distinction.

Services: Petie the Pony begins making bedside visits to hospital patients. Petie is accompanied by staff from Victory Gallop Farm. It is the first and only horse to visit a hospital.

Services: New Children's Hospital Physicians (CHPA) offices are opened in Barberton and Wadsworth. There are now five locations in the hospital's primary care network. The network is now known as Akron Children's Pediatrics (ACHP).

Services: New Children's Hospital Physicians (CHPA) offices are opened in Ellet, Hudson, Medina and Kent. There are now nine locations in the hospital's primary care network. The network is now known as Akron Children's Pediatrics (ACHP).

Philanthropy: Akron Children's and the Beacon Journal, along with media partners WKDD and NewsChannel 5, join forces to produce the first Kids' NewsDay, a community fundraising project that benefits patients at Akron Children's. The 12-page, special wrap-around section of the Beacon Journal raises more than $4,000 for the hospital. The program is modeled after a program in San Diego.

Services: Akron Children's opens a sick child care center as an alternative for working parents with mildly ill children. Sick child care centers are a growing trend across the nation due to the increase in the number of working parents.

Philanthropy: C. Blake McDowell leaves Children's Hospital its largest estate gift to date, just over $1 million.

Philanthropy: Jim and Vanita Oelschlager donate $1.66 million to Akron Children's to create the eponymous Center for Child Advocacy.

Breakthroughs: Akron Children's launches a 3-year project to study the effects of music therapy and sound reduction on its neonatal intensive care unit patients. Funded by the Cleveland-based Kulas Foundation and the hospital foundation, the project is the first in the nation to examine both recorded music and sound reduction together. Study results did show that babies treated to music had better sleeping patterns and steadier heart rates and respiration and were released from the hospital 2 weeks earlier than babies who received no musical stimulation.

Services: Children's Hospital's cardiology department opens an arrhythmia center to diagnose and treat children and teen with all types of irregular heart beats.

Services: Akron Children's joins the ranks of fewer than 6 hospitals in the U.S. that have dedicated pediatric pain centers. The center integrates traditional medicine with complementary and alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, aromatherapy, massotherapy, chiropractic, homeopathy, yoga therapy, and herbology.

Services: Children's Hospital opens a new 12,000-square-foot respiratory center in the hospital, which includes the cystic fibrosis center, asthma education program, pulmonary medicine, and pulmonary function testing lab. The center is named the Robert L. Stone, MD, Respiratory Center, thanks to a $300,000 gift from Dr. Stone's brother and sister-in-law, Donald and Marcia Stone.

Philanthropy: Akron philanthropists Jim and Vanita Oelschlager spark a donation campaign for child advocacy, which raises $2.2 million. The Oelschlagers match the donation with $2.9 million, bringing the total to $5.1 million.

Services: New Children's Hospital Physicians (CHPA) offices are opened in Akron, New Philadelphia and Tallmadge. There are now 12 locations in the hospital's primary care network. The network is now known as Akron Children's Pediatrics (ACHP).

Philanthropy: Henry Luckhardt, of Ravenna, Ohio, donates $1.4 million to Children's Hospital's burn center.

Philanthropy: Thanks to a $2.5 million gift, Children's Hospital's burn center becomes the Paul and Carol David Foundation Burn Institute.

Services: Parent Advisory Council member and founder Joyce Swords, helps establish a parent mentor program 3 years after her daughter, Angie, had passed away following a battle with leukemia. The parent mentor program connects parents with other parents who have similar medical experiences for emotional support and information.

Timeline: Roger Adams creates Heelys, athletic shoes with wheels in the heels, and they quickly became a pop culture craze among teens and young adults.

Services: Akron Children's opens a sleep center under the direction of Dr. Greg Omlor, who is also the director of pulmonology. The center brings together a team of pediatric experts from neurology, pulmonology, developmental pediatrics and ENT, to name a few, to help diagnose and treat severe sleep disruptions in children.

Services: Children's Hospital develops a division of rheumatology to treat and diagnose children with inflammation of joints and muscles and autoimmune diseases, such as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic fever, Kawasaki syndrome and lupus. Dr. Peter Reuman is the director.

Philanthropy: Children's Hospital partners with WKDD 98.1 to hold its first radiothon, called "Have a Heart, Do Your Part." In 3 days, it raises $327,000, making it one of the top 10 radiothons in the country.

Services: Akron Children's combines occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech and hearing to form the department of rehabilitative services.

Services: New Children's Hospital Physicians (CHPA) offices are opened in Ashland and Wooster. There are now 14 locations in the hospital's primary care network. The network is now known as Akron Children's Pediatrics (ACHP).

Services: Akron Children's greatly expands its cardiac services with the opening of its heart center. The new center adds pediatric heart surgery, adult congenital heart disease and maternal-fetal cardiology to its list of services. Dr. John Clark heads the arrhythmia center. Dr. John Lane heads the adult congenital heart disease program, a service for adults with congenital heart disease to transition from pediatric to adult care. Dr. Philip Smith heads the heart center as its chief surgeon assisted by pediatric heart surgeon Michael Spector. Dr. C.R. Patel heads the maternal-fetal cardiology program.

Recognition: American College of Surgeons designates Akron Children's as a Level II Pediatric Trauma Center.

Services: Akron Children's opens an autism center in cooperation with the Blick Clinic.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's begins its first major construction project since the completion of the Centennial Building in 1993. The project includes a new 7-story, 239,400-square-foot medical office building at the corner of Buchtel Avenue and Water Street; expansion of the Bowery Street parking deck; and $41.5 million additions to the north and east sides of the hospital.

Services: Akron Children's introduces Reach Out and Read. This early literacy program for children 6 months to 5 years extends to all of Children's pediatrician offices, giving a free age-appropriate book at every well visit.

Services: Thanks to a generous donation from the hospital's Women's Board, Akron Children's opens a skeletal dysplasia center under the direction of its founders Dr. Dennis Weiner and Dr. Haynes Robinson. The center is one of only a few in the country that treats both children and adults with skeletal dysplasias, which cause shortness of stature, or dwarfism.

Philanthropy: After receiving a $100,000 gift, Akron Children's renames its sick child care center the Estelle F. Kaufman Sick Child Care Center in honor of the long-time Women's Board member.

Recognition: The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer verifies Akron Children's cancer program as one of only 14 pediatric teaching hospital cancer programs in the nation. Dr. Jeffrey Hord is director of the program.

Services: Children's Hospital and Akron General Medical Center form a partnership for specialty newborn care. Under the agreement, Children's leases and operates Akron General's 15-bed special care nursery. The collaboration gives maternity patients and their babies access to the high quality of both hospitals under one roof.

Services: Summit County Safe Kids, which is operated by Akron Children's, collaborates with AAA Akron Auto Club to open a child safety seat inspection station in response to a need in the community. The station is staffed by child passenger safety technicians, certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Services: The Summit County Children Who Witness Violence program is launched in collaboration with Akron Children's adolescent services department and 28 community partners. The program offers immediate home-based crisis intervention and round-the-clock trauma support for children who witness violence. The program is made possible with a $500,000 grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that is contingent on securing local funding resources to match the grant dollar-for-dollar.

Services: Akron Children's, in cooperation with Akron General Medical Center and Summa Health System, establishes the Fetal Treatment Center of Northeast Ohio. It is based at Children's genetic center, with additional offices at Summa's Akron City Hospital and Akron General Medical Center. The goal of the center is to provide coordinated, family-centered care for both mother and fetus.

Services: Akron Children's develops a comprehensive childhood cancer survivor program. The program provides regular screenings for late effects of cancer treatment and offers an individualized treatment plan. By providing education, support and access to the most up-to-date information and research, the program helps childhood cancer survivors transition into adulthood.

Philanthropy: David and Martha Showers, along with their children, give Akron Children's $3 million to establish the Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders. The gift represents the largest commitment made by a board member in the history of Children's Hospital to date.

Breakthroughs: Akron Children's installs a new digital catheterization lab, only the second such pediatric digital facility in the country.

Philanthropy: The Haslinger Family donates $4 million to Akron Children's to establish a pediatric palliative care center. It is named the Haslinger Family Pediatric Palliative Care Center. Dr. Sarah Friebert, board-certified in pediatric hematology-oncology and palliative medicine, is named director. In 2003, the center creates a fellowship in the discipline, one of only three in the U.S.

Services: Akron Children's hires Dr. Grace Smith to start a heart center office in Boardman, Ohio.

Services: Akron Children's establishes a comprehensive traumatic brain injury (TBI) program as part of its division of neurosurgery. The goals of the program are to ensure that children reach their full potential after a TBI and to help alleviate the problem of TBI through research and advocacy.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's opens the $45 million, 239,400-square-foot Bowery Professional Building across from the hospital's main entrance. The medical office building houses the heart center, sick child care center, medical education and conference center that includes a 211-seat auditorium and 10 conference rooms. Highlights of the space include a 7-story glass atrium and an abundance of art, including a whimsical and interactive mechanical art piece designed by James Eaton of Chicago that spans 70 feet. Today, the medical office building houses a large number of outpatient specialty clinics.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's first public art fundraiser, Horse of a Different Color, grosses $400,000 through sponsorships, donations, merchandise and book sales, and silent and live auctions. Sponsors chose school groups, youth organizations, professional artists, celebrities and corporations to decorate 85 fiberglass colts. The decorated colts were unveiled to the public in May 2003 at the Victory Gallop Celebration at Lock 3 Park in downtown Akron. Following the celebration, the colts spent the summer on display throughout northeast Ohio. The colts were reunited and auctioned off on Oct. 3, 2003, at Blossom Music Center. The proceeds went to the Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders and the heart center.

Services: Akron Children's opens a heart center office in Beachwood, Ohio.

Timeline: Children's returns to doing business as Akron Children's but retains Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron as its legal name.

Breakthroughs: Akron Children's Arrhythmia Center becomes a national leader in using 3-D mapping to eliminate the use of fluoroscopy (x-ray) in cardiac catheter ablation. Dr. John Clark leads this effort.

Recognition: Child magazine ranks Akron Children's 21st among the nation's 150 pediatric hospitals. The ranking is based on survival rates, nurse-to-patient ratios, patient safety, staff qualifications and specialty departments. It is the second year that Child magazine has named Akron Children's one of the top children's hospitals in the country.

Timeline: Akron Children's maternal fetal medicine specialist Justin Lavin delivers Ohio's first sextuplets at Akron General Medical Center. Upon delivery, Children's transport team quickly whisks Jennifer and Keith Hanselman's tiny babies to Akron Children's neonatal intensive care unit, where they all thrive until each is strong enough to go home.

Timeline: Twin Rumaisa Rahman is born Sept. 19, 2004, at less than 26 weeks gestation at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago. At 8.6 oz., or less than a can of Coke, Rumaisa is the smallest preemie born to live past discharge in the United States. She is now typically developed other than a few motor delays.

Philanthropy: Jim and Vanita Oelschlager donate $2 million to establish the Oak Adoptive Health Center. The center will offer comprehensive support for international, domestic and special needs adoptions. Dr. Ellen Kempf is named director.

Services: In September 2004, Akron Children's opens its new helipad atop the hospital's north addition. The new helipad features an improved lighting system that aids in nighttime landings and a warming pad to prevent ice buildup during the winter.

Philanthropy: The Kresge Foundation of Troy, Mich., awards Akron Children's an $800,000 challenge grant. The grant will be used toward construction and renovation costs of the hospital's north addition building project, which is one of the capital components of Children's Campaign For Our Kids initiatives.

Philanthropy: Kohl's Cares for Kids makes the area's largest corporate commitment to early literacy with a $494,215 gift to support Akron Children's Reach Out and Read program. The gift allows the hospital's pediatricians to make the development of early literacy skills a standard part of primary care. Through Reach Out and Read, pediatricians give a new book to patients at each well visit from 6 months to 5 years of age and also offers tips to parents on ways to share books with their children.

Recognition: The Family Child Learning Center receives the 2004 "Making a Difference" Summit County Quality of Life Human Services Award. The award is given annually to a Summit County agency that makes a difference in the lives of children and families. FCLC is a research and training program that develops innovative education, therapy and support services for young children who are disabled or at risk for developmental delays.

Services: Akron Children's establishes department of maternal-fetal medicine to provide basic and specialty maternal care with advanced fetal diagnosis and treatment.

Services: Children's takes on the entire Fetal Treatment Center of Northeast Ohio.

Services: Akron Children's builds a rehabilitation house to help teach patients who have mobility problems how to accomplish basic activities of daily living in a real-life setting. The house, which is part of the rehab services' expanded area on the hospital's second floor, includes a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living area, and a washer and dryer. In addition to teaching patients how to perform basic activities for themselves, the house's wheelchair-friendly adaptations give parents ideas on how they can better equip their own homes.

Services: Akron Children's establishes School Health Services. Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Hudson school districts are the first clients.

Services: To address the lack of orthopedic care for children in the Youngstown, Ohio, area, Akron Children's introduces orthopedic services in its Boardman office.

Services: Akron Children's opens a day rehabilitation program for children and teens in need of intensive outpatient therapy. The program is the first and only rehabilitation program for children and teens in the hospital's multi-county service area. It offers intensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy and oral-motor/feeding evaluations and treatment.

Services: In response to high ER patient volumes, Akron Children's launches a fast track emergency care program in January 2004 to provide timely care for children with less urgent injuries and illnesses. Fast track patients are directed to a separate waiting area with 6 dedicated exam rooms, 2 dedicated physicians, registered nurses, a medical assistant and a registrar. The goal is to have non-urgent patients through the ER in less than 90 minutes, while maintaining the highest level of care.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's completes the $9 million, 27,000-square-foot east addition. It houses a greatly expanded and renovated Kids' Café, 5 new post-anesthesia care unit beds, and 4 new ORs. Two of the newly-renovated operating suites are specifically designed for minimally invasive procedures and accommodate the latest technology for image-guided neurosurgery. Simple voice commands control each of the $1 million suites. A new cardiac surgery room is also part of the project.

Bricks and mortar: In September 2004, Akron Children's pediatric intensive care unit moves into more spacious quarters in the hospital's north addition. The new 25,200-square-foot PICU features 23 private rooms, a fully-equipped family waiting room, plenty of bright and airy spaces, and child-friendly art. The PICU is the last unit to open in the hospital's north addition. Along with the PICU, the north addition houses a rooftop helipad, hematology-oncology unit and 12-bed burn unit.

Bricks and mortar: In April 2004, Akron Children's burn center moves into more spacious quarters in the hospital's north addition. The expanded burn unit, which is part of the Paul and Carol David Foundation Burn Institute, features 12 private rooms with rooming-in accommodations; treatment room; physical therapy room; operating room; tub room; and 24-hour outpatient clinic. The $4 million burn center is the second unit to open in the hospital's 5-story, 90,210-square-foot north addition. Development of the burn institute was made possible by a $2.5 million gift from the Paul and Carol David Foundation of Stark County as well as a $1.476 million federal government appropriation, spearheaded by Rep. Ralph Regula.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's Foundation launches a historic $103.2 million fundraising campaign called Choose Children's. The campaign has 3 components: $70 million for endowment, $19 million for physical space and equipment, and $14.2 million for hospital annual programs.

Services: On March 1, 2004, Akron Children's opens its spacious new 16-bed inpatient unit of the Showers Family Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders. The 17,600-square-foot unit is part of the north addition project and includes rooms for stem cell transplant and palliative care patients, a toddler playroom and a teen activity room. A $50,000 donation from Children's Family Care, Inc., helps fund the toddler playroom and DVD and video game units. J&L Specialty Steel donates $20,000 to purchase the equipment for the teen activity room. The center is named after the family of David and Martha Showers who donated $3 million in 2002 to help build the new hematology-oncology center. It is the first unit to move into the north addition.

Recognition: Akron Children's newly constructed Bowery Medical Office Building is renamed the William H. Considine Professional Building in honor of the chief executive's 25 years of leadership at the hospital.

Services: To ease the transition from inpatient psychiatric care to outpatient, Akron Children's establishes the partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs. Both programs provide extensive group therapy, family therapy, case management, psychiatric care and hands-on, skill-building services. The partial hospitalization program is a daylong program for teens ages 13 to 18 who need intensive mental health care, but who do not meet the admission criteria for inpatient hospitalization. The intensive outpatient program is a less restrictive version of partial hospitalization, allowing patients to go to their own school for a half day.

Recognition: The Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association awards Children's Home Care Group the state's Healthy Child Care grant. The grant helps provide child health and safety training to childcare centers and in-home childcare providers in 16 Ohio counties. The project links childcare providers with registered nurses who provide free advice and consultations to ensure that childcare centers follow best practices for child health and safety.

Services: In August 2004, Akron Children's opens the NeuroDevelopmental Science Center, the first of its kind in Ohio. The comprehensive center combines specialists from a growing number of disciplines, such as neurologists, developmental/behavioral pediatricians, physiatrists (rehab medicine specialists), psychologists and neuropsychologists. Together, they offer a complete spectrum of care for children and teens with autism, epilepsy, learning problems, behavioral problems, skeletal dysplasia, neuromuscular disorders, spasticity and traumatic brain injuries.

Philanthropy: FirstEnergy Foundation donates $10,000 to Children's Hospital-based Summit County Safe Kids to purchase a "Hazard Hamlet," a portable, tabletop electrical simulator, to use as a teaching aid to enhance electrical education in schools, businesses and community service agencies. The electrical display is a vertical, 3-dimensional representation of a town and addresses common issues of electrical safety.

Services: Hematology/oncology begins doing allogeneic stem cell transplants.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's dedicates the new Baby Jack Delaney Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Family Waiting Room. The naming of the waiting room is a memorial to Jack Delaney, who died on Nov. 3, 2001, after spending 7 months in the NICU. A generous contribution from the Sutowski Foundation in Valley View, Ohio, made the naming of the room possible. A trustee of the Sutowski Foundation, Judie, Jack's mom, helped direct the foundation's giving efforts.

Services: Children's Hospital partners with Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna, Ohio to operate its inpatient pediatric unit. The 8-room, 4,700-square-foot unit treats uncomplicated pediatric conditions.

Breakthroughs: Akron Children's is the first freestanding pediatric hospital in the world to secure a Polestar N20 intra-operative MRI system, thanks to a number of public and private funding sources. The latest generation of surgical navigation and imaging technology allows Children's neurosurgeons to determine the exact location of the surgical incision in real-time and plan a minimally invasive path to the brain tumor. The total cost of investment is about $1.8 million, which is supported by a $954,634 Federal Omnibus Appropriations Bill, sponsored by Sen. Mike DeWine; $450,000 from the Walter W. Born Trust; $100,000 from FirstMerit Trust Company; $150,000 from Akron Children's Women's Board and Northern Ohio Golf Charities; and $40,000 from Children's Family Care Inc.

Services: In July 2005, Akron Children's begins offering pediatric outpatient services and after-hours emergency care at the Health Center at Western Reserve in Hudson. The new facility offers rehabilitation and sports physical therapy; radiology and lab services; various sub-specialties; and after-hours emergency care.

Services: Akron Children's estabalishes a hospitalist program called diagnostic referral services. These in-house physicians manage patient care from admission to discharge. Dr. James Nard heads the program.

Services: Akron Children's and Humility of Mary Health Partners join forces to provide pediatric heart services at St. Elizabeth's in Youngstown.

Services: Children's Hospital establishes a Fragile X program in partnership with the Fragile X Alliance of Ohio. It is the first community-based program in Ohio to provide comprehensive care to children affected by this genetic condition.

Recognition: The Bruce F. Rothmann, MD, Endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery is created to honor Dr. Rothman's 50 years of service to Children's.

Services: The Ohio Department of Health awards Akron Children's a $60,000 grant so its school health services can establish a dating violence prevention program in local high schools. The program trains school ambassadors and teachers to educate teens in their own schools about the warning signs and dangers of dating violence.

Services: Akron Children's school health services launches a pilot telemedicine program with Akron Public Schools, giving doctors and nurses at the hospital the ability to examine students with symptoms of minor ailments. The program helps to prevent parents from having to leave work and take children out of school for an appointment.

Philanthropy: Children's Hospital receives a 3-year, $1.2 million grant from the Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation to establish the psychiatric intake response center (PIRC). The center is a collaborative effort that provides access to round-the-clock, diagnostic mental health assessment within the hospital's ER. It is the second program of its type in Ohio and one of the few pediatric-based programs in the U.S. PIRC streamlines the intake and referral functions and allows more than 20 participating agencies in Summit County to share their resources and areas of clinical expertise.

Services: Akron Children's enters into an agreement with Humility of Mary Health Partners (HMHP) to establish a hospitalist program at St. Elizabeth's in Youngstown. In addition, Children's creates a 20-bed pediatric unit at HMHP's new Boardman facility. The unit, which is housed on the 7th floor of the new St. Elizabeth's Health Center, features private rooms that allow a parent to stay overnight and 2 isolation rooms.

Philanthropy: More than 200 people raise $60,000 for Akron Children's at the inaugural Wine and Wishes event. The fundraiser is the brainchild of Greg and Tiffany Michalec, whose twins spent 18 weeks in Children's NICU.

Services: Akron Children's Children at Risk Evaluation (CARE) Center begins assisting with cases of child abuse in Medina County by way of a videophone. The telemedicine program allows nurses to communicate with CARE center staff as they examine a child for sexual or physical abuse. Telemedicine helps to keep the investigation local, resulting in significant travel and cost savings for police, prosecutors and child protection agency representatives.

Services: Children's Hospital-based Safe Kids Summit County launches Adopt-a-Crosswalk to encourage local businesses to "adopt" crosswalks or intersections near elementary schools to make them safer for all pedestrians. Diagonal stripes are painted over the length of the crosswalks to make them more visible to drivers and pedestrians.

Philanthropy: Through a donation of $100,000 over 4 years, the FirstEnergy Foundation partners with Children's Hospital and Safe Kids agencies to keep the children of our community safe and injury-free. The donation serves as a lead gift in the corporate phase of the hospital's Campaign for our Kids.

Education: In response to a national shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists, Akron Children's develops a 2-year pediatric psychiatry fellowship program.

Services: Akron Children's combines orthopedics, sports medicine and sport rehab services under one roof. The 30,000-square-foot center for orthopedics and sports medicine comprises a team of highly trained medical professional and support staff to offer patients a personalized, all-in-one approach to care. Drs. William Schrader and Joseph Congeni serve as co-directors.

Recognition: After undergoing a rigorous application and evaluation process, Akron Children's is awarded Magnet recognition status by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) on March 21, 2007. Achieving Magnet recognition is considered the gold standard for excellence in nursing.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's pays $26 million to Forum Health for Beeghly Medical Park in Boardman, Ohio. The hospital plans to renovate Beeghly and transition it into a pediatric hospital to serve the Mahoning Valley. The new hospital will house an ER, special care nursery, a center for cancer and blood disorders, radiology services, and an inpatient unit.

Services: Children's and Humility of Mary Health Partners acquire Tri-County Child Advocacy Center in Youngstown.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's opens $3.5 million office suite in Boardman, Ohio, to house pediatric specialists. The 20,500-square-foot space houses 21 exam rooms, including 2 cast rooms for orthopedics; 3 assessment rooms; 3 nursing stations; 2 consultation rooms; EKG and cardiac exercise labs; a pulmonary exercise lab; and a digital radiology suite.

Services: Akron Children's collaborates with MedCentral Hospital in Mansfield, Ohio, to oversee its pediatric unit.

Services: Akron Children's begins operating the 20-bed neonatal intensive care unit at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown.

Services: In July 2007, Akron Children's begins offering pediatric emergency services at St. Elizabeth's in Youngstown. Dr. Mary Costello is the site director.

Philanthropy: In honor of their daughter Amelia, NICU parents Sam and Shelby Snellenberger organize the inaugural Walk for Babies event to raise money for Akron Children's neonatal intensive care unit. The first event recruits 400 walkers and raises more than $52,000.

Breakthroughs: The Austen BioInnovation Institute is founded to promote patient-centered innovation and commercialization at the intersection of biomaterials and medicine. It is a partnership of Akron Children's, Akron General, Summa Health System, the University of Akron and Northeast Ohio Medical University.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's opens the Garden of Hope and Healing in Perkins Square Park in front of the hospital, between Bowery and Locust streets. The garden provides patients, their families and hospital staff a private, outdoor space for reflection, meditation and renewal. Special features include a "healing" walkway, which winds throughout the gardens; a contemplation space with seating for outdoor ceremonies; several additional benches for relaxation; and a sculpture. The garden is funded by the Women's Board with support from the Employee Foundation Council and the Palliative Care Committee.

Bricks and mortar: In December 2008, Akron Children's opens a second hospital in Boardman, Ohio, to serve the patients and families of the Mahoning Valley. The 189,174-square-foot Beeghly campus has 32 inpatient rooms, an ER, and rehabilitation, radiology, lab and other services.

Services: Akron Children's creates the center for operations excellence to improve the patient/family experience. The center uses lean six sigma strategies to help departments within the hospital find simple, cost-effective solutions for improving inefficient processes and quality for the hospital, patients and families.

Services: An Akron Children’s Hospital Pediatrics (ACHP) office is opened in Solon. There are now 15 locations in the hospital's primary care network.

Breakthroughs: Ohio's first and only medical transport helicopter dedicated to pediatrics arrives at its new home at Akron Children's on Oct. 27, 2008. The helicopter is dubbed Air Bear and features a colorful, eye-catching design. It is operated by Med-Trans Corp. of Dallas, Texas.

Services: Pediatric pulmonologists and neurologists from Akron Children's begin seeing patients at Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio.

Services: Akron Children's opens the 10,000-square-foot Ear, Nose and Throat Center in July 2009. The center has 8 exam rooms, 4 treatment rooms, 2 audiology booths, radiology equipment and a dedicated center for hearing aid sales and service. Dr. Anton Milo is the director.

Services: Akron Children's establishes a division of clinical pharmacology and toxicology to provide patients and families with specialized expertise on children's specific medication and poisoning issues. It is among a few such departments at pediatric hospitals in the country. Michael Reed, PharmD, is the director.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's President and CEO Bill Considine and his wife, Becky, give $1 million to establish the Rebecca D. Considine Clinical Research Institute. Michael Reed, PharmD, is director.

Services: In August 2009, Akron Children's opens a new ER at the Akron General Health and Wellness Center in Montrose.

Recognition: Akron Children's hematology-oncology program is verified by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer as one of only 14 pediatric teaching hospital cancer programs in the nation. Dr. Jeffrey Hord is director of the program.

Services: In September 2010, Akron Children's hires Natasha Curtis as its first coordinator of language access services. The new program aims to streamline and coordinate interpretive and translation services throughout the hospital to better serve patients and families who are limited English proficient (LEP) or hearing impaired.

Services: Akron Children's launches its Office of Pediatric Global Health to provide residents with educational opportunities in domestic and international medicine, while offering healthcare for impoverished populations around the globe. The office is established with financial support from Akron philanthropists Jim and Vanita Oelschlager and Dr. Jeff Kempf is the director.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's receives 2 gifts to support its special care nursery on its Beeghly campus in Boardman. The SJK Foundation donates $100,000 to create a family area for the special care nursery, and the Hine Memorial Fund awards $50,000 to construct a family sleeping room in the special care nursery.

Timeline: Jordan Romero, 13, becomes the youngest person to scale Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain.

Services: Akron Children’s Hospital Pediatrics (ACHP) offices are opened in Boardman and Brecksville. There are now 17 locations in the hospital's primary care network.

Services: Akron Children's opens a new unit in its ER dedicated to patients presenting with mental and behavioral health issues. Staffed by pediatric ER doctors and pediatric psychiatric-trained medical and nursing personnel, the behavioral health ER is designed to calm patients.

Timeline: Akron Children's expands its Doggie Brigade program to the Mahoning Valley. Doggie Brigade canines and their handlers begin visiting patients at the hospital's Beeghly campus.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's receives a $1.2 million grant to establish an endowed chair in pediatric palliative care, believed to be the first of its kind in the U.S.

Services: Akron Children's signs an agreement with Summa Health System to own and operate the 21-bed NICU at Akron City Hospital.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's opens the Emily Cooper Welty Expressive Therapy Center following a $1.2 million donation from Ms. Welty. The 3,000-square-foot center allows patients to use various forms of art to deal with illness, cope with emotions and find comfort. Dr. Sarah Friebert is the director.

Services: Akron Children's establishes its Advanced Practice Center to support advanced practice nurses and physician assistants. The center functions as the liaison for medical staff, nursing staff, human resources and management regarding the development of advanced practice services throughout the organization. Julie Tsirambidis is the director.

Services: An Akron Children’s Hospital Pediatrics (ACHP) office is opened in Warren. There are now 18 locations in the hospital's primary care network.

Services: Akron Children's begins providing cardiology and neurology services at Lake Health's TriPoint Medical Center in Painesville.

Philanthropy: Ed Slattery of Cockeysville, Md., gives Akron Children's $100,000 to create the Peter and Matthew Slattery Fund after his sons received intensive care at the hospital following a car accident that claimed the life of his wife. The fund is used to help patients requiring additional rehabilitation services, such as physical, occupational, speech, expressive and other therapies.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's opens the Kikel Center for Pediatric Surgery at its Beeghly Campus in Boardman, Ohio, with a $1 million gift from the Kikel Charitable Trust. Additional financial support for the center came from the Youngstown Foundation ($25,000), the J. Ford Crandall Foundation ($10,000), and an anonymous gift of $5,000.

Recognition: Akron Children's names its center of operations excellence (COE) for Mark Watson, who retires after 45 years in various executive capacities. The COE streamlines processes and improves quality through the implementation of lean six sigma strategies.

Services: Akron Children's signs an agreement with MetroHealth to provide pediatric specialty care at the Cleveland hospital in the areas of cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, gastroenterology, cancer and blood disorders, and critical care.

Breakthroughs: Akron Children's goes live with EPIC, its new electronic medical records system. This $50 million investment will make it possible for the hospital to provide all staff with 24/7 access to the same patient information across the enterprise.

Services: Akron Children's opens a 5-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit for children and teens requiring speech, physical or occupational therapy following hospitalization for an acute illness, surgery or trauma.

Services: Children's Home Care Group expands services to the Mahoning Valley.

Services: Akron Children’s Hospital Pediatrics (ACHP) offices are opened in Ravenna and Streetsboro. There are now 20 locations in the hospital's primary care network.

Recognition: Akron Children's is ranked in 8 pediatric specialties in the U.S. News and World Report's 2012-2013 Best Children's Hospitals rankings: urology, pulmonology, neonatology, cancer, nephrology, orthopedics, neurology and neurosurgery, and cardiology and heart surgery.

Services: Akron Children's, Partners for Kids (PFK) and Nationwide Children's receives a $13.1 million Health Care Innovation Grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to expand healthcare for underserved children in Ohio. With support from the state of Ohio, the partners will expand the PFK model to cover 517,000 Medicaid-enrolled children in 46 of Ohio's 88 counties. The expansion represents a new national innovation, which incentivizes quality outcomes and prevention.

Philanthropy: The Women's Board of Children's Hospital host the 110th Charity Ball at Goodyear Hall for the final time before moving to E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's launches a $200 million expansion of its Akron campus to meet the current and future needs of children and their families. Called "Building on the Promise," the expansion project is the result of significant growth in the hospital's patient volumes and services. The centerpiece of the plan is a 368,735-square-foot medical tower that includes a 100-bed NICU with private rooms; a high-risk delivery area; an emergency department; a new outpatient surgery center; and an enclosed concourse that takes patients and staff from a new 1,250-space parking garage to the new building and beyond into the existing hospital. The building is slated to open in May 2015.

Recognition: The American Hospital Association honors the Haslinger Family Pediatric Palliative Care Center at Akron Children's with a Circle of Life Award. The award, presented to only 3 programs in the country, recognizes the center for its innovative work in improving care for patients with life-threatening conditions, as well as those near the end of life.

Services: Akron Children’s Hospital Pediatrics (ACHP) offices are opened in Alliance, North Canton, and Perry Township. There are now 23 locations in the hospital's primary care network.

Services: Akron Children's begins providing care for pediatric inpatients and covering high-risk deliveries at Wooster Community Hospital.

Recognition: Akron Children's nursing staff at Mahoning Valley earns the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) award for outstanding nursing excellence. The award recognizes Akron Children's for decreasing its blood stream infection rate for very low birth weight infants by 30 percent by implementing evidence-based best practices for central venous catheter insertion and maintenance processes across its 5 neonatal sites. Children's is among 6 awardees in the country to receive this honor.

Recognition: Akron Children's ranks in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationally in the adoption of electronic medical records (EMR) by Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Recognized as achieving Stage 6 (out of 7) on its EMR Adoption Model scale, the scale ranks about 5,300 hospitals in the country. Children's implemented its EMR system, Epic, in 2012 at a cost of $50 million.

Services: Akron Children's establishes a Parent Advisory Council in Mahoning Valley.

Philanthropy: Kay® Jewelers makes a $10 million gift to the hospital’s “Building on the Promise” campaign. This is the largest gift ever received by Akron Children’s. In recognition of this gift, the new medical building is named the Kay® Jewelers Pavilion.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's announces that $25.2 million has been raised during the leadership phase of the $60 million Building on the Promise capital campaign in support of the Akron campus' major expansion and a renovated and expanded Ronald McDonald House of Akron. This is the largest capital campaign undertaken on behalf of Akron Children's. Significant contributions include $3.8 million from employees; $2.5 million from the Women's Board of Akron Children's; and $1 million or more from Children's Family Care Inc., Richard and Joanne Grigg, GOJO, Mary and Louis S. Myers Foundation, Northeastern Ohio McDonald's Advertising Inc., Pediatrix Medical Group and 3 anonymous individuals.

Services: Akron Children's signs an agreement with Wooster Community Hospital to begin operating a Level II special care nursery at the hospital.

Services: Twelve preemies make the crosstown journey from the Akron Children's NICU at St. Elizabeth Health Center Youngstown to a new facility at St. Elizabeth Health Center Boardman. The new NICU features private rooms and a more home-like environment.

Timeline: In December 2014, NICU nurse Danielle Cooper became Akron Children's 5,000th employee.

Timeline: Akron Children’s enters into an agreement with the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron to take over the operations of the simulation center in the ABIA’s downtown headquarters. Spanning 30,000 square feet in downtown Akron, the center is one of the largest, most comprehensive facilities of its kind in the region. The center offers a variety of learning environments, including a surgical laboratory, simulated hospital environment, OR suite, ICU, ED, maternity suite, 8 standardized patient rooms, a bio skills facility, and 125-seat auditorium – all of which are equipped with debriefing technology for a fully-integrated learning experience.

Services: The new Special Delivery Unit opens in the Kay Jewelers Pavilion, offering specialized care for moms who may be carrying a baby with a high-risk condition. The unit features a special operating room for c-sections, as well as private pre- and post-partum rooms offering the comforts of home.

Services: Akron Children's begins providing cardiology, lab, maternal fetal medicine, orthopedics, and radiology services at a single location in Mansfield.

Services: Akron Children's opens its first urgent care center at the Akron General Wellness Center in Montrose. The center offers extended hours and lower cost options for minor medical situations.

Services: The Cleveland Clinic and Akron Children’s Hospital entered an affiliation agreement to align their pediatric and adult congenital heart surgery programs and their adult congenital cardiology services. The collaboration will better serve patients and families by strengthening research and quality initiatives, improving operational efficiencies, and enhancing opportunities in the areas of medical education and physician recruitment.

Services: Akron Children's begins providing special care nursery and pediatric inpatient services at St. Joseph Warren Hospital.

Services: The new Women's Board of Akron Children's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit opens on two floors of the Kay Jewelers Pavilion. The unit features 75 private rooms, with space to expand to 100, as well as a milk lab and several family support areas.

Services: An Akron Children's Pediatrics (ACHP) office is opened in Ontario (OH). There are now 23 locations in the hospital's primary care network.

Services: The new GOJO Outpatient Surgery Center opens in Kay Jewelers Pavilion. The new center features surgery status boards with up-to-the-minute progress updates, and four operating rooms. Surgeries performed will include tonsil and adenoid removal, ear tubes, eye surgeries, dental restorations, minor plastic surgery cases, hernia repairs and urology conditions.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children’s Hospital, now the fastest growing hospital in the country, opened the doors to its new $180 million Kay Jewelers Pavilion. The seven-story, nearly 370,000-square-foot facility is home to a new neonatal intensive care unit with 75 private rooms, a new emergency department, an expanded outpatient surgery center, and the hospital’s first special delivery unit for high-risk births.

Services: Akron Children’s receives its first “Most Wired” award, a national benchmark for hospitals with exceptional IT integration.

Services: Akron Children's adds dermatology services at the Akron campus.

Services: Akron Children's completes a $4.5 million expansion of our behavioral health services inpatient unit in Akron, doubling the number of beds.

Services: Akron Children's surpasses one million annual outpatient visits for the first time.

Services: Akron Children's opens the Celeste Myers Dental Clinic to offer complete oral healthcare to children, especially those with special needs.

Services: Akron Children's opens urgent care centers in Hudson, Mansfield and Warren.

Services: Akron Children's opens the Celeste Myers Dental Clinic to offer complete oral healthcare to children, especially those with special needs.

Services: Akron Children's opens pediatrics offices in Austintown, Lisbon, and Mansfield.

Philanthropy: Akron Children's becomes the title beneficiary of the Akron Marathon Race Series. In addition to promoting healthy lifestyles and showcasing our vibrant community, the hospital brought patient heroes to the race experience to inspire runners and spectators alike.

Timeline: For the fifth time, the Double-A Akron RubberDucks are Eastern League champions.

Timeline: 19-year-old gymnast Simone Biles earns four gold medals at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, becoming the first American gymnast to accomplish that feat and one of only four women to do so in Olympic history.

Services: Akron Children's launches centralized scheduling.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's breaks ground on the 230,000-square-foot addition to the Considine Professional Building. The expanded building will offer space to serve more patients and brings outpatient care in Akron together in one location.

Services: Akron Children's opens a new 2-story addition on its Beeghly campus. This $20-million project adds more than 51,000 square feet, including 47 exam rooms for subspecialty and primary care, as well as a welcome center.

Services: Akron Children's invests $8.6 million in a dedicated neurosurgery suite and intraoperative MRI scanner (iMRI) to help improve surgical outcomes for patients.

Recognition: Akron Children's implements a new leadership structure, separating the functions of chief executive officer (CEO) and president into 2 distinct roles. On July 17, Bill Considine announces that he will continue to serve as chief executive officer (CEO) while Grace Wakulchik takes on the duties of president.

Philanthropy: The "Have a Heart, Do Your Part" Radiothon surpasses $10 million in funds raised over 18 years.

Services: Michael Bigham, M.D., is named Akron Children’s Hospital’s first chief quality officer.

Services: Akron Public Schools and Akron Children's come together to launch the Akron Children’s Hospital Academy of Health and Human Services at North High School. The school offers pathways in healthcare operations, early childhood education, biomedical science and allied health.

Recognition: Akron Children’s Hospital celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the Beeghly campus.

Timeline: The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company welcomes Wingfoot Three to the company’s fleet of airships.

Bricks and mortar: In August 2018, Akron Children's opens the 230,000-square-foot addition to the Considine Professional Building. The $82-million addition is 8-stories tall and brings together all of our outpatient clinics on the Akron campus.

Recognition: Grace Wakulchik assumes the title of president and CEO of Akron Children’s Hospital, as William H. Considine becomes CEO Emeritus. 

Timeline: The 13th Doctor has landed! Jodie Whittaker makes her debut as the first female Doctor Who.

Recognition: Akron Children's Pediatrics and Locust Pediatric Care Group earn Patient-Centered Medical Home certification from the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's Pediatrics opens new offices in Massillon and Liberty.

Timeline: Although it was originally released in 2011, Minecraft is one of many online video games to explode in popularity due to the COVID-19 related lockdowns.

Timeline: The COVID-19 pandemic strikes the world. Nearly 2 million people perish in the first year alone.

Breakthroughs: Less than a year after the COVID-19 virus explodes across the globe, the COVID-19 vaccine is introduced. Medical experts estimate the vaccine may have saved up to 19.8 million lives worldwide.

Recognition: Chris Gessner is named President and Chief Executive officer of Akron Children's Hospital. He succeeds Grace Wakulchik and is only the fourth person to hold the position in the past 77 years.

Timeline: Akron completes the Ohio Canal Interceptor Tunnel (OCIT), the largest single public improvement project in the city’s history. The tunnel is one phase in an initiative to control Combined Sewer Overflows and update the City's sewer infrastructure.

Timeline: The Summit Metroparks officially open the new Valley View area of the Cascade Valley metro park. Formerly a golf course, the new area features a venue space, kayak launch, trails, a shelter barn and stunning views of the Cuyahoga River.

Bricks and mortar: Rehabilitative Services is expanded at the hospital's Akron campus, adding 23 new treatment rooms and an inclusive outdoor playground.

Breakthroughs: The hospital opens a pediatric sports rehabilitation facility at Pinnacle Sports in Medina.

Timeline: ChatGPT is released, helping to usher in the use of artificial intelligence applications in everyday life for the general public.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children’s opens Campbell pediatrics practice.

Bricks and mortar: A new, expanded emergency room is opened at the Boardman campus, increasing the square footage from 9,600 to 34,700.

Bricks and mortar: Wadsworth Pediatrics joins the Akron Children’s primary care network and becomes our Wadsworth North office.

Services: The Food Farmacy opens at Akron campus to support patient families affected by food insecurity.

Bricks and mortar: $3.5 million spine surgery operating room opens at Akron campus featuring the nView system, a three-dimensional imaging device.

Timeline: Squeee! Pop culture icon Taylor Swift begins her Eras tour. It continues worldwide for nearly 18 months earning more than $1 billion.

Timeline: Double Feature! The Barbie Movie and Oppenheimer are released in theaters on the same day, creating the Barbenheimer phenomenon that helps resuscitate the post-pandemic box office.

Breakthroughs: The Sphere opens in Las Vegas! The 18,600-seat entertainment venue features the world's largest LED screen, as well as LED panels on the building's exterior that are visible from outer space.

Bricks and mortar: Pediatric behavioral health centers open in Canton and Mansfield, doubling the number of regional locations to 4.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's opens Outpatient Surgery Center in Beachwood.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children's named offical sports medicine provider to The University of Akron, opening a sports health facility at the university's Stile Fieldhouse.

Bricks and mortar: Akron Children’s opens a new Urgent Care and Orthopedic and Sports Injury Walk-in Clinic in Montrose.

Bricks and mortar: Salem Regional Medical Center’s pediatric primary care offices in Columbiana and Salem join the Akron Children’s Pediatrics network, bringing the number of locations to 44.

Services: Akron Children’s launches breastfeeding medicine program

Services: OhioHealth Mother's Milk Bank opens milk drop site at Akron Children's.

Timeline: A $17-million renovation is completed on Lock 3 Park in Downtown Akron, including landscaped gardens, artwork, two skating areas, and a world-class performance pavilion