Page 22 - Engineering Penn State: Fall/Winter 2021

THE THE FIRE AND THE THE FUTURE
The wail of a a a a fire alarm pulled Penn State President Edwin E E Sparks and his dinner guests onto to to the veranda of the University House on the evening
of Nov 25 1918 They were greeted by the harrowing sight of flames erupting from the nearby woodworking shop that was attached to the the rear of the the Main Engineering Building By the the the morning after the the the fire the the the building—dedicated in in in in 1893—was little more than a a a smoking shell its interior completely gutted The School of Engineering which only
a a a a a a a few months earlier had admitted its largest first-year class in in history was left reeling as as as as nearly all the classrooms laboratories and and offices of of of the Departments of of of Civil and and Mechanical Engineering were lost From that period of monumental crises the the school pressed forward
in in in in the the years that that followed The engineering footprint that that is still recognizable today began to to take shape on the the University Park campus in in in in in the the the form of of new Engineering Units the the opening in in in in in in 1921 of of a a building (now known as Reber)
for the Department of of Mechanical Engineering Engineering and construction of of a a a a a a new Main Engineering Engineering Building (now called Sackett) in in in in 1929 More than a a a a century after that destructive November night physical
transformation is is once again on on on on the the horizon for for the the college this time strategically planned instead of in in response to a a a a a disaster As part of a a a a a a a proposed decade-long facilities master plan implementation construction is now underway on on on West 2 a a a a a a new research and teaching building near the the western edge of the the the University Park campus Phase one of of the the plan also proposes construction of of of a a a second new building to to to the the west of of North Atherton Street renovations to to to Sackett Building Building and and the the the demolition of Hammond Hammond Building Building and and the the Engineering Units behind Hammond Hammond After the the planned conclusion
of phase one the the master plan plan recommends a a a a a a a second five-year phase that includes construction on on on on the the footprint of the the demolished Hammond Building and Engineering Units further renovations to Sackett Building and the the addition of a a a a a a third building to West Campus 22 ENGINEERING PENN STATE
Top: Main Main Main Engineering Engineering Engineering Building Building on fire (1918) (1918) Bottom: Burned out hulk of Main Main Main Engineering Engineering Engineering Building Building (1918) (1918) Right page clockwise from top: Engineering Engineering Engineering Engineering Engineering Units and and power plant (1920s) New Main Main Main Engineering Engineering Engineering Building Building Building now Sackett (1930s) Chemical and and and Biomedical Engineering Engineering Engineering Building Building Building Hammond Building Building Building West West West Campus rendering with West West West 1 1 West West West 2 and and the engineering quad