Ohio University students and faculty, as well as members of the Athens community, came together for a series of meetings Thursday to discuss the future of Park Place as well as the area surrounding Baker Center and College Green.
The project is a collaboration between the university and the City of Athens, with the city owning the street and the utilities that run beneath it. In 2016, former OU President Roderick McDavis approved the Park Place Planning Strategy Work Group to facilitate the planning strategy.
Thursday’s meetings were among a series of public events the group has planned to generate feedback. There was also a meeting soliciting feedback Wednesday night at the Athens Community Center, 701 E. State St.
Attendants at Thursday’s meetings were invited to share their input on the future of Park Place through interactive diagrams and boards set up in the back of Baker Center Ballroom. The boards highlighted the existing and future uses of interior, exterior and environmental space along Park Place and allowed participants to voice specific suggestions on sticky notes.
Some suggested that the university provide “more space for student collaboration,” while others addressed accessibility issues around College Green and the surrounding area. One note suggested that 29 Park Place, which previously housed university presidents, be “given to a department or large scale student organization.”
29 Park Place was left vacant in the spring of 2015 when McDavis and his wife moved out due to a bat infestation, according to a previous Post report.
Shawna Bolin, director of University Planning and Space Management, gave a general overview of the project, which aims to “develop a hub” to accommodate student use.
“When I say Park Place, I don’t mean just the street or the sidewalks or just that area,” Bolin, co-chair of the work group, said. “I mean the buildings, the green space, the open space, the trees, the crossings at University Terrace. We have to study that in conjunction with one another to make the safest environment for all of us.”
Bolin also shared the current results of a public survey, which has received 800 responses so far — 50 percent of whom were students. The survey is open through March 15.
About 20 people attended the 12-1:30 p.m. meeting. Jacob Haskins, a senior studying multicultural student inclusion, attended the later meeting at 4:30 p.m. and praised the university’s efforts to improve the university common space. He said it would give the area a “better visual aesthetic.”
“I’m in Student Senate, so one of the things Student Senate does is assess the needs of the university and how the buildings are being used,” Haskins, senate’s Budget Committee Chair, said. “I think we aren’t utilizing it to the best of its ability … there are some buildings that aren’t up to code — aren’t ADA accessible.”
Zachary Woods, a junior studying pre-medicine, biological sciences and sociology, also approved of the university’s efforts to improve the campus for future generations.
“It would be like more of an expanded Baker … more of an open space,” Woods, a SAC Senator At-Large, said. “It’s important that just because we’re juniors and seniors … these changes might not be here while we are here, but it’s still caring about the future of other Bobcats.”
