The Frederick Emmons Terman Engineering Center, which has housed Stanford’s engineering program since the 1970s, is currently being demolished. The space is scheduled to become a neighborhood park in time for autumn quarter 2012.
The demolition of the Terman building is part of SEQ2, the University’s 2005 master plan to redesign the science and engineering quad. Terman’s inclusion in the project was as much practical as aesthetic. The iconic building features laminated wood beams that protrude, and multiple decades of exposure to the elements have taken their toll. The “advanced deterioration” of these beams was a “major factor in the University’s decision to raze the building,” said project manager Matthew Griffis.
A defining feature of the demolition and construction project is the commitment to sustainability. Stanford claims that 99 percent of the materials will be salvaged and recycled in various ways. For example, recycled materials cited by the Sustainable Stanford program include the Terman roof tiles, to be reused in the West Campus Recreation Center and Arrillaga Family Sports Center projects; concrete pavers, to be utilized in the Petersen-Mitchell courtyard renovation; and exterior lighting fixtures, to be incorporated in the new park.
The demolition stage of the project will continue through the winter and the grading stage will take place in the spring, according to Griffis.
“The park is anticipated to be open by summer of next year,” Griffis said.
Until then, the Stanford engineering quad will continue to feature construction sites that can sometimes impede sidewalks.
Brad Moylan ’13 is excited about the new changes.
“It’ll be nice because it’ll be open green space but not an open field, like Wilbur Field,” Moylan said. “You can get lunch at Tresidder and eat in the park or do homework.”
“It’s great especially for people who live in Roble,” Moylan continued.
The project will keep the iconic, rectangular Terman fountain as the centerpiece of the new park according to Griffis. He described additional plans, such as lawn seating, pedestrian ramps and terraces, as “forming an amphitheatre-like space.”
The entire project, consisting of the “demolition of Terman, park grading and landscaping and other associated costs,” is projected to cost $5.5 million according to Griffis. It is financed through the SEQ2 funding plan.
The building was named after former dean of the School of Engineering and provost of Stanford Frederick Emmons Terman, who died in 1982. Terman was a mentor of William Hewlett and David Packard, who would go on to found Hewlett-Packard and provide much of the funding for the building. The building was dedicated in fall of 1977, five years before Terman’s death.