JFK Corp. Still Considering Harvard's Allston Museum Site

The land Harvard owns in Allston is still being considered as a possible location for the museum portion of the John F. Kennedy Library complex along with two other sites for the entire complex. Stephen Smith, president of the library corporation, told Harvard last week.

However, another official of the library corporation said Friday the University's proposed Business School site in Allston which would allow the archival portion of the complex to be built in the MBTA subway yards across the street from Eliot House, is "clearly the most difficult" of the alternatives available to the corporation.

Possible Opposition

Robert Burke, an official with the Kennedy Library Corporation's Boston office, said Harvard must show the corporation that Cambridge community groups will not oppose the Allston site, located across the river from Cambridge, before the corporation would choose the site over buds from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Boston-Columbia Point.

Burke said Harvard must also be willing to give money for the construction of a museum on the Allston site, because the corporation cannot afford to build two separate buildings without financial help.

The corporation announced May 15 that unless a suitable museum-archives split arrangement can be proposed by the week of June 23. When the meeting of the corporation's board of directors is scheduled, the corporation would probably build the whole complex at either UMass-Amherst or the UMass Boston-Columbia Point campus.

The whole complex including the Kennedy School of Government and the Institute of Politics was originally slated to be built in the MBTA yards.

But protests from various community groups in Cambridge about potential traffic the museum would bring to Harvard Square forced the corporation to look for another museum site.

Charles U. Daly, vice president for government and community affairs, said Friday the Aliston site must be rated "a distant third" to the UMass sites.

He said there are problems with possible protests from various community groups in Cambridge and financial difficulties in trying to persuade the library corporation to keep the archives at the MBTA site and place the museum at the corner of Western Ave, and Storrow Drive.

"We obviously can't give away the store even for this very important project," Daly said.

"What we can do," Daly said, "is see what investments we can make, what changes we can make in our part of the project--what changes we can suggest to be made in other parts of the project--and what other responsible moves we can make to develop an attractive package."

Hale Champion, financial vice president, said the University does not have "any kind of open checkbook" for the Kennedy Library Corporation, Champion said he does not think anybody expects Harvard to put up a lot of money to keep the archives in Cambridge.

Champion said Harvard would be willing to put up money to purchase land for a parking lot across the street from the site, but only if the University would get the money back through parking revenues.

He said he saw no new chance for more money from outside sources for the project.

Daly said he could not provide an "ironclad guarantee" to the corporation that several community groups in Cambridge would not oppose the Aliston museum site.

But Daly said "no one can say there won't be dissent in Cambridge to any event including the Second Coming. I do believe we've made great progress with many persons and organizations in Cambridge.

Daly said he had a number of "positive meetings" with community leaders in Cambridge about locating the museum at the Aliston site.

He said he has engaged Benjamin Thompson Associates, a Cambridge architecture firm currently working on the Business School housing project, and Wilbur Smith Associates, a consultant firm, to work out traffic problems and Cambridge groups' objections to the Aliston alternative.

Daly said he did not yet know what finances would be involved in hiring the companies.

Cabot, Cabot and Forbes, a Cambridge construction firm which has worked with I.M. Pel, the Kennedy Library architect, on other projects, has volunteered to make "financial analysis of the entire project," Daly said.

City Councilor Saundra Graham of Riverside, an area where traffic may be increased by locating the museum in Aliston, said the Aliston location may cause "terrible damage" to the people in Riverside.

Graham, who said she attended one of the meetings with Daly last week, said Harvard has shown her "nothing, absolutely nothing substantial," on the Aliston side.

She said if Harvard tries to pressure the Riverside area into reacting positively to the site in the two weeks left before the corporation meeting, "we might say no.