Ohio University and Athens community members were treated to a new view of the property and buildings at The Ridges when The Ridges Master Plan Committee and the consultant team Schooley Caldwell Associates (SCA) and MKSK shared preliminary concepts for possible future uses of the former Athens Lunatic Asylum in a public forum Wednesday evening.
The Ridges has been the focus of many conversations since The Ridges Master Plan 2014 update effort began in earnest in January of this year. The Ridges Master Plan Committee is charged with developing recommendations for future uses of the buildings and land at The Ridges. An advisory committee provides guidance and feedback to the master planning committee during periodic updates on the project.
The Ridges Master Plan Committee and SCA have held a number of public workshops and forums throughout the process to obtain community feedback and ideas. Wednesday night’s forum included a presentation of the information collected thus far during public workshops and idea development sessions.
SCA underscored during their presentation of concepts that there is a necessity to be sensitive to the historical significance of The Ridges and the emotional connection between The Ridges and the community. Additionally, specific areas of The Ridges, such as the Land Lab, have been identified as requiring protection during any future development in order to preserve research that has been ongoing for decades.
Taking into consideration the academic mission of the University, public feedback, the layout of the buildings and the topography of the lands, SCA consultants are proposing a mixed-use development centered on the historic buildings, which could include several focused-use areas, or neighborhoods. An arts and wellness village, office and retail district, and housing are all examples of potential neighborhoods. Adaptive reuse of the existing buildings would support these activities as well as academic functions that already make use of space at the Ridges, and would have an overall identity as a “green” analogous to other sectors on the Athens campus.
SCA depicted the original Kirkbride building in colorful segments to explain how thinking of the building vertically, rather than horizontally, allowed for greater use, phasing of renovation, and flexibility. The structure could potentially be used to provide housing and conference capabilities supporting programs such as executive or international education.
The existing oval drive surrounding the main grounds of The Ridges (including the Kirkbride building) would remain a defining element of the “Kirkbride Green,” with enhanced outdoor walkways throughout providing increased connectivity and access to parking on its outskirts. The proposal also called for greater connection between the main Athens Campus and The Ridges, by way of Richland Avenue and also Shafer Street. Farther out in the 700+ acres of The Ridges land, the consultants suggest that eco villages could allow for compact housing designed with conservation principles in mind. These principles call for clustering of housing with shared green spaces to avoid parceling the land into larger residential portions. There is potential for development along Dairy Lane on the south side of the property because existing roads offer access to acreage in that area, according to the SCA report. Developable sites within The Ridges acreage are limited due to the hilly topography, and any potential new development will need to be sensitive to the local environment and impact on other uses.
Shawna Bolin and Joe Shields, co-chairs of the Ridges Master Plan committee, explained during the forum that next steps for the project include further developing options for mixed uses of The Ridges, as well as financial modeling to determine the feasibility of the concepts under consideration.
A public forum will be scheduled later this year and will provide updates on the project. The details of the forum will be announced in Compass.