A group of Landscape Architecture students at The Ohio State University recently took a look at the portion of the Olentangy River north of Dodridge Street and dreamed big. Using a plan produced by a related seminar class as a starting point, they asked how the Olentangy River corridor might be transformed into a true greenway, providing new habitat for wildlife and new recreational options for residents.
Students explored ideas such as a “riffle ramp” to replace the Dodridge dam, or a naturalized Antrim Lake whose levels rise or fall based on the weather. Another project imagines turning the casting pond in Whestone park into a lake habitat that would treat storm water before it reaches the river while also creating a public beach in the park.
Another area of focus was the river’s tributaries – the small creeks that run through scenic ravines like Glen Echo and Walhalla and eventually flow into the Olentangy. Students came up with creative ideas for improving the water quality of those creeks, which actually deliver a significant amount of pollution from the surrounding neighborhoods into the river.
Jacob Boswell, the Landscape Architecture professor who led the course, explained that it was designed to build off of the original greenway idea put forth in the 2010 Downtown Strategic Plan.
“The goal is to get people thinking about it, just as people saw the images in the Downtown plan and it sparked interest in the idea, that’s what we hoped to do with the class.”
More information about the project can be found www.analogsandbox.com.
All photos and renderings via AnalogSandbox.com.
