Editor's note: Happy April Fools' Day!
In an ambitious step towards expanding housing options on campus, Stanford University announced Saturday, April 1, that it plans to turn Hoover Tower into a high-rise apartment building for faculty members.
The university plans to convert the 285-foot-tall structure into 586 units of housing, with a range of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom options. Hoover Institution Director Condoleezza Rice will take the penthouse unit, the university announced. In honor of the former secretary of state, the university plans to rename the building "Condi-minium Tower."
"This marks a momentous and impactful step towards realizing Stanford's holistic vision of providing a multifaceted spectrum of housing to serve our diverse stakeholder groups," Director of Strategic Multi-Platform Stakeholder Initiatives Everett Cross said.
Stanford has been in yearslong negotiations with Santa Clara County over increasing the amount of housing that the university provides for its faculty and staff. County officials argue that the university must do more to avoid exacerbating the regional housing crisis by creating additional residences for its employees.
Originally dedicated in 1941 and named after former U.S. President Herbert Hoover, the tower has long stood as a symbol of Stanford University. Parts of the building, including the Lou Henry Hoover Observation Deck and Carillion and ground-floor exhibition galleries, are open for public tours. The building also houses university offices and portions of the university's archives, which are closed to the public.
In a statement, the university said that Stanford would retain the "historically significant aspects" of the tower while also transitioning the structure into high-density housing.
"The university is committed to maintaining the most important aspects of Hoover Tower, including the external facade," Cross said.
The university also plans to add a number of amenities for residents, including the George Shultz Laundry Facility, Henry A. Kissinger Game Room and Jim Mattis Dining Commons.
County officials appeared skeptical of Stanford's plans. At an impromptu Saturday press conference, Santa Clara County Supervisor Susanna Mahoney said that while the county is committed to expanding housing, Stanford's plans weren't what they envisioned.
"Yes, we want them to build housing," Mahoney said. "No, we don't want them to gut a nearly century-old structure that is a regional landmark of substantial cultural significance."
Local historic preservationists also came out strongly against the proposal. Tabitha Graves, president of Palo Altans for Sensible Development and Maintaining the Status Quo, called the conversion plan "the destruction of everything that we hold dear."
"Turning Hoover Tower into housing would usher in the end of Palo Alto as we know it," Graves said. "This would represent the worst action that Stanford has ever taken."
Stanford defended its plans, arguing that it was merely following the directions given to it by the county government. According to Cross, the university wanted to meet two goals simultaneously: building a substantial amount of housing and creating greater community access to the university's historic assets.
Not only will the new residents live in an iconic structure, they will be expected to participate in the Hoover docent program by housing part of the historical archives in their apartments and showing the documents and artifacts to members of the public who show up at their doorsteps.
"We have heard the community's calls for Stanford to be more responsive and open to the public," Cross said. "What could be a better way to make Stanford more accessible than to invite nearly 600 employees and their families to make their homes in one of our most treasured landmarks?"
Comments
Registered user
Midtown
on Apr 2, 2023 at 7:58 am
Registered user
on Apr 2, 2023 at 7:58 am
Good one! You got my attention!!!
Registered user
another community
on Apr 2, 2023 at 10:38 am
Registered user
on Apr 2, 2023 at 10:38 am
Does the tower have a good lightning rod? I remember it use to have a ball on top until lightning struck a transducer behind my parent's La Honda home. This same lightning had forked, and knocked the ball off this tower. This occurred around dawn and the entire sky lit up so brightly, I thought it was surely the end of the world. You couldn't pay me to live in that tower to this day!
Registered user
Stanford
on Apr 2, 2023 at 12:20 pm
Registered user
on Apr 2, 2023 at 12:20 pm
What is going to happen to the archival library departments at Hoover Tower and the various offices for scholars?
Is Hoover Tower going to become the Coit Tower of Stanford University?
Registered user
University South
on Apr 2, 2023 at 1:20 pm
Registered user
on Apr 2, 2023 at 1:20 pm
Ah, If wishes could come true even on April Fools day
Registered user
another community
on Apr 2, 2023 at 5:14 pm
Registered user
on Apr 2, 2023 at 5:14 pm
I thought it was named after the janitor, William Hoover.
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Apr 4, 2023 at 1:57 am
Registered user
on Apr 4, 2023 at 1:57 am
Condi-minimum was the give a-way. After her 2001 stark Iranian Datk Mushroom Cloud scare, down to our human marrow bones, the very best Stanford’s Hoover could accommodate — for her historically inaccurate scare tactics was a commemorative luxury abode called “Condi least la resistance tower suite”. With retro fitted battlements, reinforced for her self protective cloud of misery dust rising above from us low land despairing from the Bay Area real estate market, which has besotted the last of us.
Registered user
Palo Alto Hills
on Apr 4, 2023 at 8:20 am
Registered user
on Apr 4, 2023 at 8:20 am
I have always liked Condoleeza Rice...along with Victor Hansen, she is a true scholar in the mold of a classic conservative Republican (a dying breed).
And being a far more successful states person than Herbert Hoover ever was, perhaps the tower should be renamed after her.