Officials Weigh Plan to Demolish Memorial Hall for New Building

University officials are considering the possibility of replacing Memorial Hall with a multi-story classroom building linked to existing facilities by a mall over Cambridge and Kirkland Sts.

They are exploring the idea both as a remedy for Harvard's chronic lack of teaching space and as a way of improving pedestrian traffic north of the Yard. But the scheme is still a long way from the drawing board.

According to one University source, discussions center around a structure housing classrooms, faculty offices, and an auditorium, which would be connected to the Yard and to laboratories and the graduate schools by a raised, parklike mall. Cambridge and Kirkland Sts. would probably have to be lowered slightly for cars to pass under the mall.

If the mall were constructed, students would be able to walk from Massachusetts Ave. to Harvard's northernmost building--over half a mile away--without having to dodge traffic, or even cross the street.

Yet, as other officials emphasize, the project remains extremely hypothetical.

Cecil A. Roberts, director of the Planning Office, said yesterday that Mem Hall was not officially considered "expendable," and that there were no present plans to demolish it. He said the idea of a pedestrian mall had come from Cambridge and not the University.

City traffic director Robert E. Rudolph said his department had originated the idea in a "brainstorming session" last week. He added, however, that there had been no study of its practicality, and that he did not contemplate making a formal proposal.