From insane asylum to university hub: The Ridges

The Kennedy Art Museum at The Ridges. Photo by Eric Boll.

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in The New Political’s Summer Magazine: “Coming Home.” Also, Stephen Wood’ name was originally incorrectly reported as “Stephen Wolfe.” The story has been corrected to reflect his name “Stephen Wood.”

The story of the complex now known as “The Ridges” began in 1874 when the Athens Lunatic Asylum, a mental hospital, was opened. The asylum operated for over 100 years before the property was given to Ohio University in 1993 by the state of Ohio.

“The state gave (The Ridges) to Ohio University believing that we could be utilizing and helping care for it given its adjacency to university properties,” Shawna Wolfe, the associate vice president for university planning and “Queen of The Ridges,” said.

Wolfe has worked at The Ridges for nearly her whole career. Her first job out of high school involved cleaning out the buildings that make up The Ridges. The buildings weren’t the only thing that needed upkeep, as the property came with 700 acres of land that required maintenance. 

Stephen Wood, the senior associate vice president of facilities management and safety, said The Ridges property is essentially divided into five zones. The first zone is the formal Ridges green, an area that houses the Kennedy Art Museum, the Voinovich school and the Ohio U Police Department.

“The Ridges green we maintain to the same level of standards as the main campus,” Wood said. “We do maintain some of the trails … usually for access to key parts of The Ridges. We have some antennas and the water tower which we need to be able to get to.”

The second zone is known as the “Land Lab,” which is used for research on the flora and fauna native to The Ridges. The third zone is used for Ohio U’s compost facility, and the fourth zone is referred to as “Tier Two Development Land” and reserved for future development.

The final zone is referred to as “Dairyland Corridor” and is land reserved for development by 

Athens city government and private owners. On this land sits the Dairy Barn Arts Center, the Richland Avenue Park and Dairy Lane Park.

The current and future use of The Ridges

One of  The Ridges’s major achievements was the relocation of administrators after the Russ College of Engineering and Technology and the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine moved to new buildings. The two colleges moved into spaces previously used by administrators at the West Union Street Office Center and the Human Resources Training Center, leaving these administrators without an office.

It was decided these administrators would move into renovated spaces at The Ridges and Grosvenor Hall. This move and renovation of buildings is credited with saving the university around $60 million dollars in maintenance and construction costs.

Like all facets of life in the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the history of The Ridges. The rise in working remotely and concern over returning to in-person learning has led to the creation of “Flexible Workspace” at The Ridges.

While the goal of this space is to provide alternative office spaces for university officials, the university is trying to keep an open mind about other uses for the offices.

“We have a vision that this will serve those that decide to work remotely. We are constantly evaluating requests like, ‘Could students book spaces up there?’ It’s definitely a consideration we are looking at,” Wolfe said.

The university has met its needs in terms of expansion, and is now opening up doors for the community to develop space at The Ridges. 

“We have designated in The Ridges framework plan that buildings beyond our programmatic use are compatible for things like senior housing and affordable housing,” Wolfe said.

Housing isn’t the only thing Wolfe hopes to see at The Ridges. The university aims to develop The Ridges into its own community hub with a variety of experiences offered at the property.

“Our vision is to continue to tie (the experience of The Ridges to) important research, the museum complex, the Voinovich school, the child development center and outdoor activities,” Wolfe said. “And then to enhance that experience with 24/7 activities like living, we’d love to have developers think about restaurants or retail shops to really create this vibrant community that’s integrated with the university.”