An Ohio preservation organization deemed The Ridges’ Athens Asylum one of the state’s most endangered historic sites.
Preservation Ohio, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness of Ohio’s historic resources, released its 2013 list of Ohio’s most endangered historic sites Wednesday.
The most-endangered list highlights “historically significant Ohio properties that face risky futures due to demolition, disinvestment or indifference,” according to the news release. “(The asylum) is of national significance not only because of its architectural beauty and contributions to the study of psychiatry, but also because many such sites have been lost over the past 20 years.”
Ohio University has owned the property, more than 665 acres known as The Ridges, since 1988. Most recently, the university was criticized for demolishing the structure previously known as the tuberculosis ward during spring break of the 2012-13 school year despite local protests.
OU President Roderick McDavis re-created The Ridges Advisory Committee, which stopped meeting in 1991, so non-university members could voice their opinions.
dd195710@ohiou.edu
