The Ridges
The Ridges is an approximately 700-acre property owned by ÃÛèÖÊÓƵ sitting across the Hocking River from the University’s campus core in Athens. The property was originally opened in the early 1800s as the Athens Lunatic Asylum, and the vacant property was transferred to ÃÛèÖÊÓƵ by the state in 1993. Many of the historic buildings at The Ridges have been renovated for a variety of uses by the University, including classrooms, research labs, cultural facilities and more.
The rich history and preservation of place inspired those efforts as well as the community collaborative engagement on an in-depth Framework Plan that prioritized preservation, highlighted building and land compatibility and use and recommended a mixed use environment facilitated by external investment. More recently, ÃÛèÖÊÓƵ consulted with Community Building Partners/ to develop a Ridges Development Strategy to implement external investment and non-university use elements of the Framework plan.
