Corporation to Review Plans for Fogg

The Harvard Corporation will probably approve preliminary drawings for the new building of the Fogg Art Museum and authorize the building's architects to produce final working drawings in the next few weeks, a Corporation official said yesterday.

A member of the Visiting Committee to the Fogg said yesterday that although fund-raising for the building has gone "very well," the Fogg still has about $1.5 million to raise for the building.

Disputed Territory

The committee member, who asked not to be identified, added that the Fogg has been unable to approach many of the museum's strongest supporters who are also targets of the Harvard Campaign, an effort by the University to raise $250 million over the next five years.

Development

Plans for the addition to the Fogg are approaching the end of the stage known as design development, in which the building's physical specifications and operating costs are reviewed before the architects come up with detailed final drawings and begin accepting bids from contracters.

"It looks likely that the estimated cost of the building is not out of line with the money the Corporation has set aside for the project," Joe B. Wyatt, Harvard's vice president for administration, said yesterday.

Wyatt added that in addition to keeping to the Corporation's budget for the building, the drawings indicate that the design of the building will not prove mechanically problematic.

Suzannah J. Doeringer, assistant director of the Fogg, said yesterday that the design development drawings were reviewed by officials at Harvard's construction management department, planning office, Buildings and Grounds department, and the Office of the Dean of Faculty. In addition, Doeringer showed the drawings to the visiting committee at their annual meeting November 2.

Richard G. Leahy, associate dean of the Faculty for resources and planning who reviewed the plans, said Tuesday that the final decision by the corporation is expected in about a week. Leahy added that the design development has taken longer than expected. "Right now, we're at the point we had planned to be last July," he said.