UNDER THE HAMMER:

Come fall, Harvard Yard will no longer have a Garden. That's not referring to some Harvard landmark unknown to casual acquaintances of America's oldest university. It simply means that after two years of using a former apartment building on 29 Garden St. as first-year housing, the College is once again placing all the frosh in Yard and Union dorms.

For first-years, that means no more shuttles and no more hassles with dining hall checkers, unfortunate ways of life for 29G residents.

But for Harvard, it means that the renovation of the Yard--a project costing about $65 million total--is nearing completion. In fact, when autumn arrives, Harvard will only have one more summer of scaffolding and dust sheets--and then, believe it or not, the Yard will be done.

The Story Behind the Scaffolding

Harvard Yard is undoubtedly one of the most well-known collegiate spots in the country. But one of the reasons for its fame is one of the headaches involved with its maintenance--age. Buildings range in years from 20 to 270. And, when the late 1980s arrived, the dorms had not been renovated for about 30 years.

None of the dorms were in danger of falling down, but all showed signs of wear and tear. And, lest the University forget, there was a nearby example of what could happen when reconstruction is delayed--the crumbling buildings a Yale.

The administration decided it was time to give the Yard a facelift. So, in 1992 managers from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), Harvard Real Estate (HRE) and the Planning Group banded together to handle the extensive undertaking.

All 16 first-year dorms were scheduled for the overhauls, which began in the summer of 1992. Lionel, the exterior of Massachusetts, Mower and Weld Halls went under the hammer at the end of May. But while all needed renovation, one dorm was more needy than the others--Weld, which was gutted and refitted.

Weld was finished in January, 1993. Days after its completion, the residents of its traditional rival Matthews Hall moved across the Yard into the newly-renovated dorm. And days later, the gutting and refitting of Matthews began. The process was finished in time for the Class of 1997 to move in last fall.

Matthews was joined in the summer of 1993 by Greenough, Hollis Hurlbut, Pennypacker, Stoughton and Thayer Halls, all of which underwent varying degrees of renovations. Then, in January 1994, the Great Dorm Switch was repeated, with residents of Pennypacker and Holworthy moving into a completely redone Thayer.

Got that straight?

Fortunately, the many people organizing and working on the project seemed able to maintain order among the hammering and tearing. Once the dust had cleared, Weld and Thayer had both lost their traditional physical entryway divisions--now, building residents didn't have to go outside to get to friends living on the other side of the dorm.

Matthews displayed a new staircase uncovered from a dry wall staircase installed in the 1960s. Matthews, Greenough and Weld now boasted elevators and new ramps to help bring Harvard into compliance with state and federal disabilities access standards.

Thayer's previously-unused top floor was transformed into attic suites with skylights, and Hurlbut got a new, more conspicuous entrance.

And even residents of dorms with less dramatic changes enjoyed the new paint, new heating and electrical systems and new bathroom fixtures brought by the renovations.

Summer of 1994

Occasionally, Elizabeth L. Buckley is stopped in the Yard by students. But they're not asking her how to get to Server or why the Yard trees are being cut down--they're telling her what they think of her work as project manager of Matthews renovation.

"[They say] 'You did a great job with Matthews," she says.

It's understandable for her to enjoy the praise. Buckley spent last summer overseeing not only Matthews but Pennypacker and Hurlbut as well.

This summer, she says, is comparatively easy--she's "only" handling Holworthy and the interior of Pennypacker.

Each, of course, will boast new electrical heating and lighting systems, as well as sprinkler systems and fire alarms.

Pennypacker is scheduled to be done in a few weeks. "The interior is really cleaning up well," Buckley says.

While there were plans at one point to just repair and touch up the existing interior surfaces, Buckley says now all the interiors are being replaced.

"It became cost-effective just to do it all over," she says.

The bathrooms are being completely gutted and refitted, she says. One change that should please residents is the installation of bathtub/showers in Pennypacker--once the renovations are finished, they'll no longer be located next to the bathroom windows, but across the room.

WHRB, Harvard's student radio station, is slated to move into the basement of Pennypacker this summer, thanks to a transformer volt installed in Hurlbut courtyard.

The scaffolding on Holworthy recently came down, signaling that the end of that project is near, too. Buckley says the interior should be done by the end of July.

While Holworthy was not gutted like Matthews, Thayer and Weld, it is undergoing significant interior changes. While the new wooden floors will doubtlessly be noticed, students will especially appreciate the changes in the bathrooms--which will have two showers per eight students rather than one.

Holworthy's basement will house several student offices, always a popular point on a campus desperate for student meeting space. A ramp is being installed to the basement for greater access.

While there are always unforeseen occurences with renovation work, Buckley says, these jobs seem to be proceeding more or less as planned.

In fact, her biggest surprises seem to have been pleasant ones.

"We found over 20 fragments of wallpaper from over the years--really cool stuff," she says. "We [also] just found...an old piece of wood pipe...Archaeologists are going to come next week to look at it."

Edith Groden's job will be finished somewhat later than Buckley's--Groden is in charge of the renovation of Grays Hall, whose completion is scheduled for September 2. While no structural changes are planned, Grays will look quite different in the fall from the way it appeared in the spring (or the way it appears now--covered in white dust sheets).

There will be a new slate and membrane roof, new double-glazed windows, new sprinklers and new fire alarms. Masonry cleaning and repainting will also give the outside of the building a fresher look. The first floor is also being de-leaded, and broken parts of the slate in the halls are being replaced.

"It's going wonderfully," Groden says. "We're on or ahead of schedule."

Hollis and Stoughton were completed last summer--except for the bathrooms. That's this summer's project for Alana M. Knuff--that, and the renovations of Canaday Hall.

Knuff says a new laundry and recycling room is also being put into the basement of Stoughton. But the third part of her job is a little more delicate--overseeing the restoration of the historic facade on the west side of the building.

Presently, she says, the restoration is about half done. "We're painstakingly restoring it," she says. "It's really astounding quite beautiful... It's made out of mahogany."

Canaday, built in 1974, has no such historic touches. It does, however, have a very leaky roof. But after this summer, Knuff says leaks should no longer be the bane of the numerous Canadayians.

"We masterminded a new roof system for Canaday," she says. "We're presently having to almost rebuild the roof. Twenty years of leaks have caused rotting.

Scott Levitan, assistant vice president for construction and planning at HRE, says stopping the roof leaks is a major priority in the renovations.

"If there are leaks, we want to hear about it is so we can get it fixed during the first year while it's still under warranty," he says.

Knuff says the basement of Canaday is being redone to make more meeting space for student groups in Canaday A through E. The Independent, a Weekly newspaper, will move from its traditional home in the basement of Canaday G to a new office in the basement of Canaday A. In its place, the Yard facilities and maintenance staff will move from Straus Hall to the basements of Canaday F and G.

Canaday will also become more accessible for the disabled with the installation of an elevator and a new ramp in its common room area.

Like many of its fellow dorms, Canaday is getting its bathrooms redone. But the Yard's newest dorm is also being gifted with a unique touch, a ventilation system for its bathrooms designed to eliminate the problem of moisture condensation leaking into the rest of the building.

But unlike other dorms under renovation, officials cannot guarantee that all the renovation will be done by the time students move in to Canaday. Indeed, residents may have to deal with scaffolding in the fall.

"We discovered that we have to do a little more than we expected," Levitan says. "We would provide security around the building for students."

Canaday's renovation will be complete when it is repainted next summer. But when officials discuss Canaday, they admit that the renovation will not address all of Canaday's structural problems.

For example, Canaday's warped metal window frames will not be replaced, nor will double-glazed glass be installed.

"We're attempting to solve some of the most annoying problems--one, the smelly, mildewy bathrooms, two, the roof that leaks," Knuff says. "Some problems will remain because they're too expensive to solve at this time."

Adds Levitan, "There weren't sufficient funds to replace the windows."

Yet to Came

All those in charge of this summer's renovations say their projects will be completed in time for student arrival in September (or in Canaday's case, sufficiently completed for students to move in).

That's fortunate, because Harvard doesn't really have a backup plan if some major disaster occurs--29 Garden St. is not being kept as a safety net. If for some reason members of the Class of 1998 or 1999 are greeted with tents rather than dorm rooms, Harvard would probably draw national ridicule. Harvard has to get this summer's renovations done, as well as those slated for next summer--Massachusetts, Straus and Wigglesworth Halls.

Officials are aware of the time pressures, and those of money and the need for quality renovation. But for more than $60 million, Harvard expects its renovated buildings to hold together well.

All these factors led to the Project-Labor Agreement of 1992. Therein, Harvard promised to hire only union labor, who would be compensated with wages 10 percent under the going market rate for renovation work.

For the workers, caught in Massachusetts' construction market collapse, the agreement was acceptable. But while union members say they saw the agreement as a model for future contracts, a step in the road away from the lowest bid to the best workmanship, University officials view it as something to be expanded to fit some other selected projects.

When the fall of 1995 arrives, all 16 dorms will seem newer than they did a few years ago, but the tensions between Harvard and organized labor will remain. Unfortunately for Harvard, this is one problem that will not be done away with when all the scaffolding comes down and the dorms are complete.