I'd love to see a decent arena on the edge of campus, downtown. Like you said, we're not going to get the world's premier events but there's no reason mom and dad can't spend a Saturday afternoon in Akron watching the Harlem Globetrotters or some travelling circus. Oddly, Canton has a functional arena. It's absolutely nothing special and a little outdated but it serves the purpose. I actually like the Civic Center for basketball (much more than the JAR).
The other problem with revamping the JAR is the limited time available to do it. They'd have from roughly early March to mid-November. That's a relatively short time span for substantial improvements. I would volunteer to be the guy that takes down the silly glass wall/rail!