TWO RIDGE-RELATED AWARDS ANNOUNCED posted 11/23/04
First a Design Award, Then a Writing Award

In the span of a few days, Adrian College has learned that the architects that renovated Ridge Student Center have won a design contest for the building, and that a story about Ridge in the alumni magazine has won a national contest. (Read "Story Contest" now)

Architects Win Award For Ridge Student Center posted 11/23/04

The architectural and design firm that renovated Ridge Student Center has won an award for the project.

The Collaborative, a Toledo-based company, received one of three Honor Awards from the Toledo Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) at an awards ceremony on Nov. 20, for their work on Ridge.

A press release from AIA Toledo states that the design for Ridge Student Center “sensitively respects the historic legacy of the building and the unique large spaces.”

Ridge, which was completed in the summer of 2004, is a former gymnasium dating back to the Depression-era. It has been creatively reinvented as a fully-modern student center, housing a snack bar and coffee stand, computer lab, TV lounge, game room, offices, and a variety of meeting rooms.

The contest was judged by a group of architects and designers in Chicago.

The Honor Award for Ridge wasn’t the only distinction bestowed on the Collaborative at the ceremony. Paul R. Hollenbeck, Principal for the Collaborative and one of the Ridge designers, was named Toledo Architect of the Year for 2004. The company also earned one of five Citation awards for the new Olander Park Administration Building in Sylvania, Ohio.

Ridge Student Center is located on Williams Street on the Adrian campus.

In Other News:
GIFFORD WINS NATIONAL WRITING AWARD FOR RIDGE STORY [back to top]

Darcy Gifford, a 1991 graduate of Adrian College, earned national distinction for a story she wrote about the Ridge Student Center project in Contact, the Adrian College alumni magazine.

Gifford was the editor of Contact and the sports information director at Adrian College when she wrote “Renaissance” for the Winter 2002 issue. The story takes readers on a sensory tour of Ridge through its many stages of history before its renovation into a fully-modern student center.

The story took big honors in the 2002 Fred S. Stabley Junior Writing Contest, which is sponsored by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). It took first place in the nation in the Historical Fiction category, and took second in the nation in the Story of the Year category.

Gifford’s story won a regional award from CoSIDA in 2002, but the results of the national contest were not announced until recently.

Darcy is the author of “PeaceJam: How Young People Can Make Peace in Their Schools and Communities” (Jossey-Bass, 2004). She is currently the marketing director for Maumee Valley Country Day School, and is a freelance writer.