Talk:Melpar

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I worked at Melpar/E-Systems in the '70s & '80s, while and after earning my degree, and thoroughly enjoyed the many projects, comradery, and developmental opportunities. The main article is a pleasant recollection for me. It is a bit chaotic, but fits my recollections for the most part, and tends to be a bit effusive for a reference article.

A large (but aging) community of engineers, alumni of Melpar etc., still live in the metro DC area, and some gather occasionally at a local restaurant.

In the late '70s, I know we were still using at least one Alexandria facility (which I do not recall being active when I left in the mid-'80s), as well as the one in Texas. On occasion, we also rented or built temporary facilities for special projects in the local area.

In late 2010, WABCo/Melpar/E-Systems/Ratheon personnel began moving from 7700 Arlington Blvd. to west Tysons Corners (just in time for Metro-hell), and in early 2011, the building and grounds (including the shady woods) began major renovations. As of August, the husk of the building (now painted gray over the textured brick) sits empty, with construction lights on all night. An ex-co-worker sent me a handful of photos from the '60s & '70s, found in an old desk being emptied. Wikidity (talk) 22:43, 28 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Alas, Wikipedia is not the place for personal opinions and recollections. I agree we need an article on it, but the style needs to be neutral and verifiable from sources. This is clearly not so far! I think it was so confusing that someone thought it applied to Washington state, not DC, which is where the beltway bandits generally reside? W Nowicki (talk) 19:57, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

7700 Arlington Boulevard
I live near 7700 Arlington Blvd, the old Mel-Par building. Since at least 1996 Raytheon owned the building (or was the primary tenant) prior to moving to a new facility near Dulles. As part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission the GSA bought the building and now uses it to house a number of medical activities that were re-aligned as part of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center inactivation. 7700 is now the home of Department of Defense Tricare which is the military’s medical system. Several thousand employees work there. The renovation and re-purposing of the building caused a bit of a stink n the neighborhood since most of us had no idea what was going on. Still, it would not have been a big deal except that for force protection reasons the former “campus-like” setting was bulldozed into a massive parking lot, the soft, quiet accent lights were replaced massive high intensity lights and the small unattended entrance gate was replace a by very large, multiple lane facility with all sorts of detection and sniffing devices and a squad of armed guards toting what looks like M4 carbines. But I think the lights are the biggest pain – it’s like living next to Pentagon South Parking.

I will add a couple of photos later on.EdJF (talk) 17:29, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

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In the mid 1970s the US Army leased part of the Melpar building. Computer Systems Command was located there. My Dad was the manager of that part. Sometimes my Mom would make a picnic lunch and we would eat with him near the brook.

I have a funny story. One day some guy was giving my Dad problems. I don't recall the details, but it was some sort of power conflict. So overnight my Dad had the building crew remove the walls from the guy's office. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PiperBob (talk • contribs) 13:31, 19 May 2020 (UTC)