House travels down Franklin
By Mary Georgevich
A former Jesuit residence changed addresses May 10 when it was lifted 10 feet off the ground and moved two blocks down the street, clearing the way for the new business school behind the Arts and Sciences building.
The Franklin Street house rested on its former location for over 50 years.
The impending construction of a new business school building and the house's historically significant status required its relocation to the new Jesuit residence at 801 Franklin St.
The house is one of the few intact homes in the Spanish colonial revival architectural style remaining in Santa Clara county and is eligible for inclusion in a California state list of historic properties.
After the building has been attached to the new Jesuit residence, the move will cost the university $600,000, including future renovation costs.
The money is coming from both the Jesuit fund and Leavey School of Business budgets, said Joe Sugg, assistant vice president of university operations.
The Jesuit fund will cover renovations, and the business school will pay for the move.
Fundraising for the school is still in progress, but the move was able to coincide with the anticipated completion of the new Jesuit residence in July.
Nancy Calderon, assistant vice president for development, said $28 million of the $48.8 million needed for the business school has been raised.
Kelly Brothers House Movers, the DevCon Construction Inc. sub-contractors in charge of the project, moved the house west down Franklin Street, using dollies to lift it 10 feet off the ground. The foundation of the house was held up while utility work was done underneath.
The entire move took eight hours and required the cooperation of the city of Santa Clara, Comcast Cable, Silicon Valley Power, the Santa Clara Police Department and Campus Safety.
The house was added to the side of the new Jesuit residence. The Spanish-style architecture of the new Jesuit residence was modeled after the Franklin Street house.
"When we designed the new Jesuit residence, we designed it with this house being part of it," Sugg said.
The house will be renovated in order to make it livable for the Jesuits. The roof will be fixed, new windows added, and new electrical, plumbing and data wiring finished.
The house will be renovated in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Actcodes. Although it had housed both Jesuits and students in the past, this will be the first time in several years that the house is used as a residence.
"I don't think it's had an occupant in about two or three years now because everybody knew it was going to be moved," Sugg said.
Under the current construction plan, the Jesuits move out of their present home in Nobili Hall and into the new Jesuit residence in July.
Nobili will then be opened for library and other services on the first floor and will be used as a residence hall in the fall.
Orradre Library, currently scheduled for demolition July 24, plans to move offices and some services into the Nobili first floor.
The library will remain open for student use until the end of spring quarter. Services in Orradre will end on June 16. Staff and offices will be moved to their new locations in the following three days.
In addition to Nobili, the other main facility replacing the library will be a modular unit made up of several trailers on the northeast side of the parking structure.
Ronald Danielson, chief information officer for the university, said the modular unit should be about 15,000 square feet.
He said the space in the modular unit, combined with the space in Nobili, should be enough to house students, except during the busiest times of the quarter.
During dead week and finals week, extra study space will be made available in the Benson Memorial Center parlors, as well as the Williman Room, Danielson said.
"We think we'll have enough space for student use," Danielson said. "If it turns out that there are times when we need more, we will go find other places."
Contact Mary Georgevich at (408) 554-4546 or mgeorgevich@scu.edu.