Winthrop East Construction Will Likely Begin Before Summer 2016

The construction of Winthrop East, a planned five-story addition to Winthrop House’s Gore Hall, will likely begin prior to the summer of 2016, when renewal construction for the House is scheduled to begin, according to Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael D. Smith.

Renewal plans for Winthrop House, which is slated for renovation in 2016-2017, include a five-story addition to Gore Hall on Mill Street. By Courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle

Harvard’s more than $1 billion House renewal project, which has been underway since 2012, previously included a planned one-year break in construction during the 2015-2016 academic year, ahead of Winthrop’s projected renovation. Administrators have previously said that they will use that time to evaluate the renovation of other Houses, including Quincy, Leverett, and Dunster. They have said that results may inform plans for Winthrop.

In an interview, Smith said administrators, including Winthrop’s House masters, are currently discussing whether some of the House’s residents will have to live in swing housing next year to accommodate construction on the addition.

“Because we’ve got a little time as we do this assessment, we can get started on the plans that are around for Winthrop East, for the new part,” Smith said. “That way, from Winthrop’s point of view, they will be in the construction phase for more than 15 months.”

Harvard will begin replacing windows and chimneys and make other minor alterations to Winthrop this June.

—Staff writer Karl M. Aspelund can be reached at karl.aspelund@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @kma_crimson.

—Staff writer Meg P. Bernhard can be reached at meg.bernhard@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @meg_bernhard.