Despite backlash from area advocates, the walls of Building 26 at The Ridges came crumbling down in March, costing the university an estimated $425,000.
Ohio University Associate Vice President for Facilities Harry Wyatt and university President Roderick McDavis have previously said OU will draw advice from various groups to form a new plan for The Ridges.
President McDavis made the first step to keep that promise by announcing members of the Ridges Advisory Committee and Ridges Master Plan Committee on Thursday.
The former committee, made up of OU and area representatives, will feed information to the latter committee, which is composed of only university representatives.
The Ridges Master Plan Committee aims to implement its plan, whatever that might be, by the end of this academic year.
As much as we want our administrators to seek input and gather as many opinions as possible, it is now too little, too late.
The university should have resurrected the committee much sooner — before Building 26 was razed.
We feel the only reason the committee was recently restructured was to put a “good light” back on the university after it received criticism for destroying a Ridges’ building.
Preservation Ohio, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness of Ohio’s historic resources, even named The Ridges’ Athens Asylum one of the state’s most endangered historic sites. And despite outrage from members of the Athens County Historical Society & Museum against the demolition at The Ridges, OU went along with the destruction without the voices of the committees.
So good on you, Ohio University, for organizing the committees. However, we would have liked to hear the members’ opinions before Building 26 came down last spring.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
