An apartment complex that housed many international and graduate students slated to be destroyed this month recently received a second chance from Ohio University President Roderick McDavis.
The decision to halt tearing down the Mill Street Apartments, which are located off Stimson Avenue near the Hocking River, was made about two weeks ago by McDavis, said OU spokesman Jack Jeffery.
[President McDavis] wants to have more time to look at the project before making a decision
he said. Jeffery said he could not say how likely it is that the apartments will be granted a permanent reprieve from destruction or whether local realtors have expressed any interest to the university in managing the apartments.
The complex is about 35 years old.
The decision made by the university to tear down the apartments came with protests from many of the apartments' residents. According to a Feb. 27 Post article, a petition signed by 104 residents of the complex was given to the university, but only after the university had already made the decision to tear the apartments down. Jeffery said he did not know if the petition had an effect on McDavis' decision.
We think this is a really great place to live and we are really disappointed that no one ever talked to residents about coming up with alternatives said three-year resident Annette Pratt in that article. It just seems like a travesty to break up this community that is really unique.
Jeffery said efforts were made to relocate the residents of Mill Street Apartments, with many of them moving to the Wolfe Street Apartments. All residents have moved out of the Mill Street Apartments.
Plans to tear down the apartments have been in the works for more than four years. The OU Board of Trustees approved the destruction of the complex at its June 2000 meeting after touring the buildings and determining they were structurally unsound. Four of the 14 apartment buildings were torn down in October 2000.
One of the options mentioned in 2000 for the site was to build a new entrance to the university off of Stimson Avenue. The most recent plans for the area are using it for athletic fields.
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