$10M Donated To Reconstruct Mem Hall Tower

Destroyed by fire in 1956, the Memorial Hall tower could rise again if a newly created challenge fund raises enough money for its reconstruction.

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles announced the creation of the fund during a speech to more than 600 alumni and friends at Burden Hall last weekend.

A California woman, Katherine Bogdanovich Loker, donated $10 million to establish the fund, according to Fred L. Glimp, vice president for alumni affairs and development.

The gift is in addition to the $7 million Loker gave the College in 1992 to convert much of the first floor of Memorial Hall into a first-year dining hall and student center named in honor of her late husband, Donald P. Loker '21-'23.

Reached at her California home yesterday, Loker said she could not comment on specifics of the tower building project. But she confirmed that she had increased her contribution to the Memorial Hall plans to include the restoration of the tower.

Nearly four decades ago, the tower burned after a careless construction worker left his blowtorch unattended.

"I know there's a clock, but I don't really know which way its going to be," Loker said. "I looked at the whole details of the plans. I have seen all kinds of plans going way back to the library and photographs."

During his speech last weekend, Knowles was wildly applauded when he announced the gift.

"I think I'm allowed to say tonight...that Katherine Loker has made a second major gift to the College," Knowles said. "The commons gift, excitingly, will be a challenge fund for completing the tower."

'Loker, who said she had just returned from a meeting in Boston, declined to comment on her reasons for establishing the tower fund. But the also said she remembered a time when the tower loomed over Harvard Yard and signaled the time for all passersby.

For decades, architectural historians and nostalgic members of the Harvard community have criticized the University for its refusal to reconstruct the tower.

In a column last spring. Boston Globe architecture critic Robert Campbell '58 called the ongoing decapitation of the Memorial Hall tower "an architectural Bobbitt case."

Clock Controversy

Campbell said yesterday that he was delighted to hear the tower might be rebuilt. But he said the clock, which was added 30 years after the building's dedication in 1878, should not be reconstructed.

"There's no question that [the tower] should be rebuilt," Campbell said. "It's awful now. I think that Harvard, by not rebuilding the tower, has destroyed its heritage."

Campbell said he understood the pressure the University was under to restore the clock. Maintaining the architectural integrity of the original structure, however, should be a higher priority, he said.

"The original tower did not have a clock and I think [it] was a much better piece of architecture," said Campbell, who attended the Graduate School of Design. "There's a lot of nostalgia apparently for the clock tower."

Knowles said last weekend that the decision to launch a fund to rebuild the tower reflects the University's commitment to its heritage.

"The gift will be symbolic of the completion and restoration of the greatness of this institution," Knowles said.

Victor T. Chen contributed to the reporting of this story.

'Loker, who said she had just returned from a meeting in Boston, declined to comment on her reasons for establishing the tower fund. But the also said she remembered a time when the tower loomed over Harvard Yard and signaled the time for all passersby.

For decades, architectural historians and nostalgic members of the Harvard community have criticized the University for its refusal to reconstruct the tower.

In a column last spring. Boston Globe architecture critic Robert Campbell '58 called the ongoing decapitation of the Memorial Hall tower "an architectural Bobbitt case."

Clock Controversy

Campbell said yesterday that he was delighted to hear the tower might be rebuilt. But he said the clock, which was added 30 years after the building's dedication in 1878, should not be reconstructed.

"There's no question that [the tower] should be rebuilt," Campbell said. "It's awful now. I think that Harvard, by not rebuilding the tower, has destroyed its heritage."

Campbell said he understood the pressure the University was under to restore the clock. Maintaining the architectural integrity of the original structure, however, should be a higher priority, he said.

"The original tower did not have a clock and I think [it] was a much better piece of architecture," said Campbell, who attended the Graduate School of Design. "There's a lot of nostalgia apparently for the clock tower."

Knowles said last weekend that the decision to launch a fund to rebuild the tower reflects the University's commitment to its heritage.

"The gift will be symbolic of the completion and restoration of the greatness of this institution," Knowles said.

Victor T. Chen contributed to the reporting of this story.