Board of trustees to vote on Ohio University’s Comprehensive Master Plan

On Friday, the Board of Trustees will vote on Ohio University’s Comprehensive Master Plan that proposes many campus alterations.The Comprehensive Master Plan was developed after five phases of work to “define, assess, envision, test and synthesize” the vision for the campus and address concerns about future changes.The Master Plan focuses largely on the fact that OU is a campus of different residential greens. The Plan proposes changes to strengthen and renovate the current greens, including the addition of two new residential areas at The Ridges and on Union Street.Quite a few changes have been proposed for South Green. The demolition of Back South housing buildings would allow for the addition of two new buildings that would be adjacent to the Front Four. There would also potentially be a new building on the east side of Morton Hall. The building would address space for the College of Arts and Sciences by renovating and building onto Clippinger Laboratories.West Green, the current home of the Heritage College of Osteopathic (HCOM), the Russ College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences, has two proposed alterations. The first is the relocation of HCOM to the new Union Street Green, which would present the opportunity to repurpose Grosvenor, Grosvenor West and portions of Irvine to cater toward the needs of the university.The second includes repurposing spacing that are at risk of flooding and the renovation of Parks, Wilson and Stocker Hall to cater to space needs for the Russ College of Engineering.College Green acts as the central point for campus and, according to the Plan, OU will continue strengthening the characteristics of the green by enhancing student activity space and increasing the safety of pedestrians. Alden Library, Ellis Hall and the President’s Residence on Park Place would all see renovations, according to the plan.On East Green, better service access to Shively and renovations to Jefferson Hall will make the buildings similar to recently-renovated halls.For North Green, renovations are scheduled for Seigfred and Glidden Hall to include a possible new building site and parking structure. Additionally, Hudson Health Center is beginning to outgrow its current space and could potentially move to a location closer to student housing.Once HCOM is moved to Union Street Green, the current service buildings that exist on Union Street would be moved to The Ridges Green. The West Union Street Office Center would be renovated to provide more space for the Russ College of Engineering.The Ridges, the previous site of the Athens Asylum for the Insane, would need to undergo several big changes before being transformed, including the demolition of non-contributing buildings to make space for new ones. Possible additions at The Ridges would be a larger building like a conference center, child care expansion, parking and an astronomy center.Several other additions are bike paths and lanes, the expansion of The Sweep (the sidewalk that connects South Green to the rest of campus), flashing cross-walk signs and elevating pedestrian crossings.According to the Master Plan, Ohio University will have a visitor’s center on Richland Avenue and signs directing toward campus landmarks to make the school more “welcoming and user-friendly.”A further look into the timing of the Master Plan will go into effect after voting.