Ohio State was awarded a $200,000 grant from the Getty Heritage Campus Grant Program to develop a plan and conduct a comprehensive survey of historically significant buildings on campus. OSU’s proposal allotted the majority of the grant for hiring a historic preservation architectural consultant.
“The purpose of the grant is to gather information on how to maintain the materials and elements of the buildings,” said Laura Shinn, senior campus project planner at OSU.
Since OSU did not receive the $275,000 it had originally applied for in April, the scope of its planning may have to be altered. However, plans are still on schedule, Shinn said.
“We hope to hire a consultant by the first of the year for a detailed analysis of the buildings,” she said.
The two-year project calls for a general review of nearly 40 buildings to identify the reason for their significance, the significant features and the materials that should be maintained and preserved, and any special treatment of such materials.
“We’re going to take a general look at a large group of buildings and hone in on the most detailed of about 20 to 24 buildings,” Shinn said. “The results of the analysis will determine the number of projects on the horizon.”
In addition to the consultation, some of the grant money will go toward training the physical facility staff in preservation maintenance of the determined historic buildings.
With such diverse architectural styles on campus, the grant will aid in determining which buildings should be renovated rather than reconstructed. Such is the case of the former architecture building, Ives Hall.
“Ives was more expensive to keep and build around than to just knock down. Its significance had been lost through the years with its renovations,” Shinn said.
Page Hall, on the other hand, may have been kept because of its original facade, the staircase, or its location in relation to the Oval, Shinn said.
“People look at buildings and just think they’re old,” said Heather Schwenker, assistant director of corporate and foundation relations at OSU who applied for the grant. “I hope through this we’re not throwing away a lot of history of the campus.”
OSU was one of about 100 schools to apply for the grant this year.
“The Getty doesn’t usually award over $200,000, and I believe we got one of the highest,” Schwenker said. “We’re fortunate to receive as much as we did.”
The Campus Heritage Grant program is an international cultural and philanthropic organization based in Los Angeles.
“A peer review panel selected projects that demonstrated a commitment to preserving the historic resources on the campus that adopted a comprehensive approach to planning, that presented a detailed work plan, and that included a meaningful educational component for students, staff or the general public,” said Maureen McGlynn, spokeswoman for at the J. Paul Getty Trust.
Between the summers of 2002 and 2003, the program awarded grants to 14 American universities ranging from $75,000 to $220,000. Barnard College in New York received the largest award, McGlynn said.
Other institutions that have received grants during the past year are the University of Florida, Brown University and the University of Wisconsin.
Under the provisions of the grant, OSU is required to submit yearly reports of its accomplishments, Schwenker said. The project will be finished July 1, 2005, but the university will be eligible to re-apply for funding.
