Renovations of Quad To Begin on Monday

After a month of speculation, renovations to two Radcliffe Quadrangle Houses will begin Monday when several cranes begin work on Cabot House's Briggs Hall.

Harvard officials yesterday accepted a bid from the Dimeo Construction Company of Providence, R.I. ending a month of doubt over whether the long-awaited renovations and North Houses would begin, and end, on time.

Originally, renovations were slated to begin June 10. But when bids for the first phase of the project came in about 20 percent more expensive than Harvard had planned, officials pushed the project back a month to allow for rebidding.

Harvard expected that renovations to Briggs would cost about $3.6 million, but Dimeo originally bid $4.1 million.

Following first bids, Harvard asked Dimeo, the the original contractor, and three other contractors to come back with cheaper prices for the project.

Dean of the Faculty for Facilities R. Thomas Quinn would not reveal the contractor's latest bid but he said it was close to what Harvard was looking for.

Unnecessary

To allow for a less expensive renovation. Harvard eliminated some of the "things that don't really affect the quality of the renovations." Quinn said. He added that Harvard would be placing sinks, rather than vanities in quad bathrooms to eliminate one such unnecessary part of the project.

This time around, Harvard seemed satisfied with the bids for the $27 million project's first phase--the complete restructing of Briggs Hall Quinn said yesterday that all the bids came in at about the same cost, but that Harvard chose Dimeo because administrators felt the company "had more time to analyze the project' than the others.

Associate Dean of the College Martha C. Gefter said earlier this week that as long as the renovations to Briggs began before August 1. she was confident that they could be completed as scheduled by February, despite the one months delay.

Last summer, Harvard completed structural and mechanical improvements but did not do extensive dormitory rebuilding--on the River Houses.

The College decided to postpone renovation to Cabot and North House--which involve more demolition and reconstruction than the River Houses did--until after it had finished work by the Charles in order to raise enough money for the costly Quad renovations.

The cost of renewing Cabot House alone is expected to cost $12 million. Getter said that Harvard currently has about $9 million in hand for the renovations.