1910 – 1940
1912
Elwyn E. Seelye & Co., a structural engineering firm, is founded in New York City at the Architects’ Building at 101 Park Avenue. From the earliest years of his career, Seelye was known for his innovative designs of structural foundations. He would eventually add partners, growing the firm to Seelye Stevenson Value & Knecht, or SSV&K.
1920s-30s
Serving as engineering subconsultant to nationally recognized architects like John Russell Pope, McKim, Mead & White and Joseph Freelander, Seelye support the design of several landmark buildings including the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art and Constitution Hall for the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, D.C., and the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
1939
Following the formation of the New York City Housing Authority, Seelye provides engineering design for the Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing development in the United States.
1940 – 1950
1941
STV begins its long-standing partnership with the U.S. military when Seelye provides engineering design for multiple military camps during World War II. Among those is Camp Shanks in Orangeburg, NY, the largest port of embarkation during the war.
1943
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, DC, Seelye performs structural and foundation design for the memorial, which was hailed as a “shrine for freedom” by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
1945
Whitney Sanders and Ralph Thomas create the Pottstown Tool and Engineering Company in Pottstown, PA, later renamed Sanders & Thomas, or S&T. After acquiring Voss Engineering in 1967, the name “STV” is created for the first time.
1950 – 1975
1956
As the nation passed the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, SSV&K provides design services for a 5.9-mile section of I-95 in Connecticut, establishing the firm in the highway/bridge market for decades to follow.
1964
The Vehicle Assembly Building, the largest single-story building in the world, is unveiled as a key component of NASA’s new Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SSV&K is part of the historic URSAM joint venture that designed the facility. SSV&K would go on to design several other landmark high-tech facilities including the Orbiter Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, and the Fermi National Accelerator high-particle physics laboratory in Batavia, IL.
1972
STV, Inc., acquires SSV&K, merging the two primary predecessor firms under one umbrella – STV.
1980 – 1990
1980s
Through acquisitions and organic growth, STV expands its buildings and transportation infrastructure presence into the Metropolitan Baltimore area in Maryland, and Southern California.
1986
SEPTA’s Frazer Rail Maintenance Facility in Pennsylvania opens. STV performs project management, engineering design and construction management services for the project, which is the first transportation program in the nation to be procured using design-build delivery.
1987
The Long Island Rail Road’s John D. Caemmerer West Side Yard opens in New York City, allowing the railroad to expand its service capacity. STV’s long-term planning and design support of the maintenance facility cements the firm as a leader in the passenger rail market. During the same timeframe, the organization also provides professional services for MBTA’s North Station redevelopment in Boston and the Center City Commuter Rail Connection program in Philadelphia – both integral passenger rail initiatives.
1990 – 1995
1990
STV receives a prestigious Grand Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies for its design of the Viral/Rickettsial Diseases Laboratory for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Georgia. This pioneering biocontainment facility is later recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts with a Federal Design Achievement Award.
1992
The Southern California Regional Rail Authority launches Metrolink, Los Angeles County’s first commuter rail service. STV provides program management and other planning and design services for the rail system, cementing its transit practice on the West Coast. Following the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, STV partners with Metrolink to restore service as quickly as possible and design two new stations.
1995
STV provides technical assistance and other project management services for the delivery of more than 300 rail cars to use in Northeast Illinois’s Metra commuter rail system – the first rail vehicles in the United States to be delivered under the mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
2000
2000s
Through acquisitions and organic growth, STV expands its transportation infrastructure footprint into the Southeastern United States, opening new offices in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Virginia.
2000
The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system in New Jersey, the first major transit system in the country to be designed and constructed under a design-build-operate-maintain contract, opens. STV performs engineering design for the project.
2000
The restoration of Grand Central Terminal earns the Presidential Design Award, one of the most significant design awards in the nation. STV is the lead engineering for the endeavor, which brought GCT, dubbed by many as the “greatest terminal in the world,” back to its Beaux-Arts grandeur.
2000 – 2020
2001
The Kneeland Street to Congress Street section of Boston’s Central Artery/Tunnel, known as the “Big Dig,” is completed. STV provides engineering design and project management services for the initiative, which is dubbed a “wonder of the world” by the federal government for its potential impact to the region and to the future of transportation infrastructure.
2003
Houston METRORail, the city’s first passenger rail system, is designed and constructed in record time. As program manager, STV oversaw every facet of the light rail system. A few years later, STV would provide similar services for another new light rail service in Texas, the DART Green Line.
2007
STV is selected to provide planning and design services for the Burbank to Los Angeles project section of the California High-Speed Rail system, the most densely population segment of what will be the nation’s first truly dedicated high-speed rail system.
2008
The Thomas Jefferson Hall Library and Learning Center opens at the historic U.S. Military Academy at West Point. It is the first new academic building within the central area of the campus in 35 years. STV serves as the architect-of-record and design engineer. The firm would go on to design other key buildings and upgrades at the campus, including the USMA Preparatory School and Davis Barracks.
2010
Through acquisition and organic growth, STV expands its planning, design and program and construction management expertise in Northern California and in New England.
2014
ENR magazine honors the Boeing Center South, Chinook H-47 Focused Factory Conversion Program in Pennsylvania with a “Best of the Best” award in the Manufacturing category. STV provides construction management services for this project which helps Boeing increase the production efficiency of its flagship heavy-lift military helicopter.
2015
STV’s team is honored with a National Award of Design Excellence from the Design-Build Institute of America for its role leading the design of the I-485/I-85 “Turbine” Interchange in North Carolina.
2016
The World Trade Center Transportation Hub – a central part of the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan following 9/11 – receives a prestigious Grand Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies. STV, as part of the Downtown Design Partnership, served as the engineer- and architect-of-record for this new transportation gateway marked for its distinct “bird in flight” design.
2018
In recognition of the remarkable teamwork and collaboration that went into the project’s delivery, BD+C magazine honors the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women a Platinum Building Team Award. STV’s design integrates gender-, health- and age-responsive programming into the fabric of the 21st century facility.
2019
STV, in joint venture, is tapped to support the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s zero-emission bus transition program. LA Metro’s push to deploy zero-emission technology across its bus fleet is one of the most ambitious programs of its kind.
2020 – 2024
2020s
Through acquisitions and organic growth, STV expands its presence in the Texas/Mountain Region and the Southeastern United States, opening new offices in Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Colorado and Oklahoma, while augmenting its services for the Water market sector.
2021
The restoration and rehabilitation of Boston’s iconic Longfellow Bridge receives the Abba G. Lichenstein Medal for “outstanding achievement in bridge engineering demonstrating artistic merit and innovation” from the International Bridge Conference. STV serves as the lead designer for this design-build project.
2021
STV is selected to prepare the landmark Gender Action Plan for LA Metro. This first-of-a-kind study analyzed the needs of female riders in LA Metro’s rail and bus system.
2022
STV is among the first AEC firms to sign the Equity in Infrastructure Project Pledge, committing to advancing equity in infrastructure, with a goal of increasing the number, size and percentage of historically underutilized businesses growing into prime contractors, participating in joint ventures, or becoming equity participants.
2023
STV’s program and construction management team is honored at the national level with a Grand Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies for its role in transforming Delta Air Lines Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
2023
The MTA’s Grand Central Madison, a new rail terminal serving the Long Island Rail Road on the East Side of Manhattan, opens. STV supports the project with an array or professional services from its initial conception to completion over the span of nearly 30 years.
2024
There’s a new way to see STV. The firm moves its headquarters to a new flagship office in the Empire State Building.
