Harvard Begins Late Repairs After Floods in Lowell Suite

Digging will begin today on Holyoke Street to repair damaged pipelines that have caused four major floods in Lowell House since mid-September.

September.

William H. Bossert '59, acting master of Lowell House said yesterday that the problem was not fixed immediately because the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Buildings and Grounds could not decide who had financial responsibility for the repairs.

Repeated Floods

The repeated floods have affected Lowell B-13, some nearby storage rooms and a recently resurfaced squash court.

Bossert said the problem was resolved last Friday after he met with Steven S.J. Hall, vice president of administration, and Leslie Thomas, manager of utilities for Buildings and Grounds. "We've maybe opened some channels for communication for dealing with similar problems in the future," Bossert said.

Thomas said yesterday the total cost of the project would not be known until the full extent of the damage to the pipeline is revealed.

Allison H. Clarkson '77 and Lauren K. Gibbs '77, residents of Lowell B-13, said yesterday they wrote a letter of complaint to President Bok and Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, about the uncorrected conditions.

'Unpleasant'

"It is plain unpleasant and wrong, and inappropriate for us to continue into the rest of the year in such chaos when one considers how dear the accomodations are in the first place," the letter said.

Thomas said the problem is caused by the growth of tree roots into the pipeline, which is "something that could happen in any of the Houses, because the sewer lines are made of brick and the original pipelines of clay."

Bossert said his newness to the job may have caused part of the delay because he was unsure who to contact about fixing the pipe.