This picture of William Henry Scott was taken in 1893. He was the seventh president of Ohio University and the first to come from Athens County and be an alumni. Scott Quadrangle is named after him. The building, build in 1937 the year he died, is scheduled to be demolished this summer.

This picture of William Henry Scott was taken in 1893. He was the seventh president of Ohio University and the first to come from Athens County and be an alumni. Scott Quadrangle is named after him. The building, build in 1937 the year he died, is scheduled to be demolished this summer.

William Henry Scott was the seventh president of Ohio University, serving from 1872 to 1883.

Born in Chauncey, Scott was the first university alumnus to be its president, according to OU Library Archives.

The year he died, 1937, was the year the first part of the building that bears his name — Scott Quadrangle — was constructed.

While Scott’s legacy may live on in other forms, workers are currently preparing Scott Quad for demolition by conducting a hazardous material abatement.

According to OU Senior Project Manager Garrett Karr, abatement is expected to last until about the first week in June.

A timeframe for the demolition of the 85-year-old building has not yet been set, as OU is going over the bids it recently received. Karr said he expected it to happen for shortly after the abatement is done and before OU students return for the fall semester.

“Demolition will be before the students get back, mostly for safety reasons,” he said. “We’ll do some site reclamation and hope to have everything completed before grass-planting season starts on Sept. 15.”

Karr said one lane of University Terrace will be closed during demolition to create a safety zone.

The university plans to create an accessible green space in the location along University Terrace, near Park Place.

Residents and others who have worked, lived and played within Scott Quad, have mixed reactions to loss of the building.

In October 2021, the OU Board of Trustees approved demolishing Scott Quad, which was one of several facilities within the university’s portfolio reshaping initiative.

The Scott Quad site is situated within the engagement and science core, as well as the academic corridor on Park Place.

Park Place hosts several university services along its breadth — Baker Center, Alden Library, Student Health Services, Walter International Education Center, tutoring center and more, said Shawna Wolfe, associate vice president of University Planning.

“Our vision for this project is to enhance program space for student engagement,” she said.

The decision to tear down Scott Quad was not taken likely, said Wolfe.

“To be a university planner, you have to work with all aspects of the college and think of the future of the campus,” she said. “We look at lots of points of data. It is an important decision whether to rehab and it keep a building or demolish it.”

She noted that her department must be fiscally responsible with the funds it receives. Scott Quad had about $3.4 million in deferred maintenance that needed to be done.

“We try to make the best decision on how to invest our funds,” she said. “Scott Quad is no longer needed for residential purposes and it’s not great for offices.”

University planning and making decisions about the future of OU’s landscape is always a challenge, Wolfe said. “There are always many opinions.”

In a post on Facebook, Cyrus Moore III noted that Scott Quad is one of the gorgeously constructed brick buildings that gives the university its charm.

“My own feelings aside, it is appalling that in order to pursue designs for a ‘green-based community’ the University will destroy an existing, historic, and well-constructed building,” he wrote. “Any eventual replacement will never be as soundly built as Scott Quad, and how does one even measure the environmental impact of first destroying then rebuilding? A process through which fuel, materials and money will be unnecessarily expended, twice.”

Moore also noted that the loss of the building comes not long after the destruction of Science Hall, Brown House, and before that the Tuberculosis Ward, and many other buildings in the past 50 years.

“The University administration’s penchant for destruction runs counter to their claims of being green and acting in the community’s best interest,” he continued. “Sometimes it seems as if they will not be content until all of the old, iconic, well constructed buildings in town are replaced by the faux-greco and brick veneer of buildings like Walter Hall and New Baker Center, poor facsimiles that only mimic actual historic structures.”

Facebook user Donald E. Newell noted that tearing down a building and planting grass does not make a project green. “Preservation is harder but worth the time to plan for the future.”

Facebook user Mary Kunkler Prince noted that Scott Quad was one of the first OU building she saw when her brother became a student in 1968. “I can’t fathom walking that area without Scott Quad.”

Facebook user Tim Martin said he would love to save the building, but it’s a mess inside. “Sooo much mold and nothing updated. Dunno if that’s from poor upkeep but ya. The place is a mess. It’s such a cool, unique building.”

What’s in a name

Scott earned his college degree from OU in 1862 and was made superintendent of public schools in Athens that same year. He taught most of the courses at the high school and oversaw the district’s other schools and teachers.

In 1869, he became a professor of Greek language at Ohio University. A few years later, in 1872, he became president.

According to Alexis Cope’s “History of the Ohio State University,” when Scott assumed the presidency of OU, the institution’s funds were declining, as part of its endowment income had been illegally diverted.

“He succeeded, after much litigation, in having the evil corrected, and he also secured a liberal appropriation from the legislature for general repairs of buildings,” the book says.

In 1883, Scott left OU to become president of The Ohio State University. When he became president, he also received a chair in philosophy. Scott only served as president of OSU for two years, but continued to chair of philosophy until he retired in 1910 at age 70.

When Scott Quad was built in 1937, it contained just two sections, the north and west. The other two sides of the quadrangle were completed in 1950. The dorm was once home to army training units, an entirely-female population and even actor Paul Newman, according to a 2021 OU News Report. Scott Quad also became a co-ed residence hall in the 1960s, the first of its kind at OU.

Throughout the 2000s, Scott Quad’s residential halls were located on the second and third floor, above the OU Police Department and other offices. The police department moved out in 2021. Scott Quad was last used as a residence hall in spring 2021, according to Karr.

Scott Quad sits near the university’s academic corridor. Park Place hosts several university services — Baker Center, Alden Library, Student Health Services, Walter International Education Center, tutoring center and more, Wolfe said. Future plans for the Scott Quad align with the strategic goals and objectives outlined in the university’s 2016 Comprehensive Facility Master Plan.

“Our vision for this project is to enhance program space for student engagement,” she said.

In 2016, OU hired a consultant who looked at how much recreation space was needed for its student population to maintain their overall wellness.

“Given that we are an urban campus, we are making sure that we have green space for our people to take a moment to engage in nature,” Wolfe said.

During the COVID pandemic, the university, as well as other institutions of higher learning across the nation, learned the importance of having spaces for people to gather that are outside, where people can distance themselves, Wolfe said.

“We found that it is important have places for outdoor education and programs,” she said. “Any program can use these spaces to bring people together to do their experiments and host various programs. We’re excited that we will have another place on campus to do that.”

Since there is an accessible parking area nearby, the Scott Quad area will be improved to make it accessible, Wolfe said.

“We will make an accessible park in the area to ensure it is a space for all people to hang out,” she said. “There will be a grassy area and some paved area that will allow conversations to take place and make the space accessible.”

The university plans to honor the building through the green space’s design, both Karr and Wolfe said.

The stone nameplates above the eight doors in the quad’s courtyard will be preserved during the demolition process, Karr said. OU plans to use the stones to make benches.

“The stone nameplates feature the names of early university donors or honored professors, we don’t really know,” he said.

“The base bid for the project included the demolition of the building, re-grading the site, and seeding the space with grass, as well as with recovery of the eight stones over the doorways for future use,” Karr said. “One of the alternates, which has been accepted, was the placement of the stones in the courtyard around the original brick walkways.”

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