Historic building on Ohio University campus is being torn down

Despite the protests of preservationists, Ohio University has begun demolition of an 89-year-old building on the campus in Athens. The Athens Messenger says community members hoping to save the vacant structure, which long ago housed the tuberculosis ward that was part of the Athens Lunatic Asylum. The university decided that the facility, known as Building 26 at The Ridges, was unsafe because of its deteriorating condition and hazardous materials. The building was constructed in 1924 to serve as the tuberculosis ward; it later housed a school for students with developmental disabilities. The state gave the grounds and buildings of the former mental hospital to Ohio University in the 1980s.