Stanford Hospital May Buy New Daycare Amid Construction Flap

A parents group is closer to an agreement with Stanford University Medical Center after the hospital offered Monday to relocate an impacted daycare center, a SUMC renewal project spokesperson said.

Parents of Stanford Arboretum Children’s Center, located next to Hoover Pavilion, first voiced concerns about the SUMC Renewal Project when parents reportedly to Hoover Pavilion and the construction of a nearby parking garage.  The project involves rebuilding , expanding , renovating Hoover Pavilion, and building a parking garage near the daycare, according to the project website.

Parents presented their concerns regarding the project at a Palo Alto City Council meeting June 20.  At the meeting parents said SUMC alerted them about the close proximity of the construction to the daycare late in the approval process.  “I definitely agree that there was a communications breakdown with the parents,” project spokesperson Sarah Staley said.

Staley said that parents and project leaders developed a potential agreement at a meeting Monday.  “Stanford has identified a campus site on Stock Farm Road, between Oak Road and Campus Drive west, to temporarily relocate the Stanford Arboretum Children’s Center,” Staley said. 

Staley added that an effort would be made to control dust and noise pollution as well as contain particularly intrusive construction to evenings and off-hours until the new daycare facility is built.  The construction to Hoover Pavilion is mostly interior work and will continue before the new facility is opened, according to Staley.  However, construction to the parking garage will be stopped until the daycare conflict is resolved, according to Staley.  The agreement is not finalized but SUMC Renewal Project would fund the new daycare facility, Staley said.

Daycare parent Daniella Perlroth said that she is satisfied with Stanford’s proposal, but, “they haven’t put it in writing,” Perlroth said.  Perlroth also said that she would like the Stanford construction permits to be dependent on the daycare relocation.  “We didn’t want our children to be adjacent to that construction,” Perlroth said. 

Palo Alto resident Bob Moss said that while Stanford acknowledged that no K-12 schools existed in the area surrounding the construction site, they ignored the potential impacts on the daycare. 

“It is remarkable that Stanford Medical failed to formally identify the Stanford Arboretum Childcare Center as a site that will be adversely impacted by construction of the nine-story garage next to Hoover Pavilion,” Moss said.

Mark Tortorich, vice president of planning design and construction for SUMC announced at the council meeting that the Renewal Project pushed back the second reading of the design plans to July 11 because of parent concerns.