Public workshop to be held by Ridges Master Plan Committee

The Ridges Master Plan Committee has announced a public workshop to be held Aug.18 to facilitate discussions about the future of the buildings and land located at the former Athens Lunatic Asylum, now known as The Ridges at Ohio University.

The Ridges Master Plan Committee is charged with creating The Ridges Master Plan Update – 2014 document. This document, building on the work of prior planning efforts, is intended to propose new ideas and strategies by which the University can utilize the asset of The Ridges and associated lands to further the University’s mission while continuing to provide valuable resources to the community. Architecture and engineering firm Schooley Caldwell Associates (SCA) is leading a multi-disciplined team to aid the committee in this work.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend the workshop, which will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. at The Ridges Building 21. Representatives from the consultant team will facilitate the workshop. Parking near Building 21 is available in the purple and dark green lots, which are available for public use without a parking permit beginning at 5 p.m.

The Aug. 18 workshop will focus on idea generation. In addition to discussing concepts for uses of the Ridges lands and buildings, public participants will be asked to provide input and guidance to the planning team in such areas as historic preservation, adaptive use, parking, pedestrian and vehicular circulation, connections to main campus, and conservation.

This is the second meeting that has been opened to the public in order to solicit information and suggestions. Members of the public who are unable to attend the Aug. 18 workshop may also submit their ideas directly to SCA through an e-mail address designated for The Ridges project at TheRidges@sca-ae.com. Another public forum will be held in October. The details of this event will be announced in Compass.