Bok Allows Final Release Of Pusey Library Plans

President Bok yesterday released the final plans for the $8 million Nathan M. Pusey Library after the Board of Overseers informally approved them.

The three-level library will be completely underground except for a nine-foot high portion of its upper level. Its aboveground portion will be shielded by a grassy surrounding mound.

The roof of the library will be covered with grass and shrubs, and will have a walkway crossing it diagonally. The library will be located between the former President's house at 17 Quincy Street and Lamont and Houghton Libraries.

Bok said last night that the library was designed low to the ground because "my hope has always been to make it as unobtrusive as possible and to preserve the open spaces of the Yard."

The library will be the first new construction under Bok's presidency and the first construction in the Yard since Lamont Library was built in 1947.

The northwest corner of the library will extend several feet into the present road running between Widener and Houghton libraries. Bok said that the road will be slightly narrowed, but that this will not impede traffic because "we're planning to keep all vehicular traffic out of the Yard and use electric carts instead."

Construction on the library will begin June 15. Bok said that there will be a deep hole in the Yard for part of the 1973 Fall term, while the library is being built, and that the hole will be "an unhappy but inevitable aspect of the construction." The library is slated for completion by spring 1975.