The $320,000 observatory will be home for an historic 10-inch refractor telescope that was previously salvaged from a fire.
Journeying to The Ridges might seem like a hike to a foreign land for many at Ohio University, but students may have more incentive to make the trip if OU’s Comprehensive Master Plan comes to fruition.
Roof and masonry repairs that began last summer have been completed, according to a recent university news release, allowing progress to begin on other projects — including a telescope observatory.
“The Ridges project for the observatory is $320,000,” Joseph Lalley, Senior Associate Vice President for Information Technologies and Administrative Services, said. “It will be going to design with the intent of completing construction in the fall.”
The new facility will house an approximately 65-year-old 10-inch J.W. Fecker refractor telescope, the mount for which was accidentally scrapped by OU Facilities after a fire about three years ago, according to a previous Post report.
“It is a relocation, providing a home for the telescope that was originally on (the Research and Technology Center),” Lalley said. He said the facility would also allow space for community members to bring their own telescopes and observe the sky.
The Comprehensive Master Plan, which was approved by OU’s Board of Trustees earlier this month, also outlines several other potential projects for the future of The Ridges.
Though the plan recommends “careful, selective demolition of accessory and non-contributing buildings,” the university's priority has been on the Kirkbride buildings, which includes the Kennedy Museum of Art.
“(The) number one goal was to preserve the Kirkbride wings,” Stephen Golding, Vice President for Finance and Administration, said at the Board of Trustees meeting earlier this month. “The advisory committee … came to the conclusion that out of all the buildings up there, the Kirkbride wings were the most important. The plan incorporates that concept.”
One of the potential projects is the relocation of administrative office space from the West Union Street Office Center to the west wing of the main Kirkbride building. Enhanced pedestrian traffic and connectivity is also in the plans, with the possibility of a “grand staircase” running along the route from the rest of campus to The Ridges through “strategic terracing,” the plan states.
The plan also suggests expansion to the already-existing Child Development Center, which junior Aimee Futhey, who is expecting a child, said is especially important to her.
“I think it’s a good thing to have (The Ridges) be more accessible, especially because the child care center is up there,” Futhey said. “For me, having a baby here soon, that’s important.”
Other key possibilities outlined in the plan include expansion of the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs and the Kennedy Museum of Art, construction of a conference facility and relocation of the graduate art studio. The plan also includes thinning trees surrounding the facilities at The Ridges to create a better sightline to the rest of campus.
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The Comprehensive Master Plan is not exclusively limited to The Ridges, however, and also includes possibilities for the relocation of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, a new ice and aquatic center next to •Ping Center and renovations to Clippinger, Ellis and Seigfred halls.
Further specifics for construction will be presented for approval at the next Board of Trustees meeting on June 23 at OU’s Zanesville campus.
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