Harvard Plans Historical Board Appeal

Harvard officials will ask the state's historical commission next week to reconsider their decision to place more than 60 campus buildings on the national historic register--a decision University planning officers said might limit Harvard's opportunities for expansion and growth.

Representatives of Harvard and MIT will tell the commission at a meeting next Wednesday that they were not given sufficiently detailed documentation of the reasons for the inclusion of specific buildings and that they need more time to consider the proposals.

If the buildings were placed on the register, any substantial alteration using federal funds would be subject to review by the state historical commission, and the University would be forced to mitigate the adverse historical impact of any renovations or demolitions.

Inclusion of the buildings on the register would "reduce Harvard's ability to have sites for new construction," University planner Supratik Bose said yesterday, adding, "It's a large enough chunk and a serious enough chunk of land that it deserves a looking at."

The Cambridge Historical Commission recommended inclusion of the 63 University buildings--and nearly 800 others in the city--after a year-long survey of Cambridge properties. The list includes the half of Harvard Yard containing Memorial Church and Widener Library, the block of land between Quincy St. and Prescott St., the River Houses and Radcliffe Yard, Charles Sullivan, director of the city historical commission, said.

The other half of Harvard Yard, Carpenter Center and Sever Hall are already on the historic register, Pat Weslowski, director of the state historical commission, said yesterday.

Although Bose confirmed that the city's historical commission had notified the University last winter of its intentions, he said Harvard officials had never been given a full explanation as to why each of the buildings was considered historically significant.

"Is Pusey Library historic? If so, why?" Bose asked.

But Sullivan said the city had given Harvard "all the distinctions in March and April. I don't think they can really say they were unaware," he added.

The criteria for inclusion in the register include historical significance, ar- chitectural importance, and association with significant people, he said.

Weslowski said that in many cases even if individual buildings were not of historical value the "sum of the parts is of greater importance than each of the structures themselves."

"What really characterizes Harvard Yard is the interrelationship of the buildings and spaces," Weslowski added.

Sullivan said he thought Harvard and MIT were less upset over the issues of inadequate notification and documentation than over a "couple of disturbing implications inclusion of the buildings on the register would have for them."

Sullivan added that the University would have to "alleviate" any negative impact on the historical character of a building if it used federal funds to alter it.

Louis Armistead, Harvard's assistant vice-president for government and community relations, said yesterday that much of the work done on Harvard buildings involved federal funds and added that the review process "takes quite a while."

The state board voted in September to include all the buildings on the register, but immediately agreed to reconsider one of the Harvard-owned buildings--Palfrey Hall on Oxford St.--and many of the MIT Properties, Weslowski said. Harvard did not send a representative to the September meeting, she added