Plan may preserve complex of old buildings at Ohio University

Published 10:14 am Friday, October 16, 2015

ATHENS (AP) — Trustees at a southeastern Ohio university are considering a plan that could give new life to a group of buildings that once housed a state insane asylum and since has inspired tales of hauntings and unusual occurrences.

Ohio University trustees are voting on a plan Friday that would preserve and renovate buildings at The Ridges as part of a campus expansion plan.

The Columbus Dispatch reported there is no timeline for redevelopment and no funding identified, but the plan is seen as good news to those who have pushed to preserve the university-owned site.

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The Ridges is a 700-acre complex of historic buildings that once housed the Athens Insane Asylum. A few buildings have been renovated, and preservationists have worried for years that unused buildings could be torn down.