Harvard Pledges To Reconsider Knafel Plans

Harvard is rethinking its most recent proposal for the Knafel Center for Government and International Study after a Cambridge city board found fault with much of the University's plan.

In preliminary discussions Monday night, members of the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood District Commission (MCNDC) debated the proposals in advance of their formal review. The group's criticism drove University representatives into a hasty strategic huddle and the decision to reconvene their own planning committee.

"You've called into question nearly every aspect of our project," Kathy A. Spiegelman, associate vice president for planning and real estate, told the commission Monday night.

Now Harvard must decide whether to submit its proposal as it now stands and await the final ruling of the MCNDC or to make significant changes to the architectural plans.

Harvard cannot begin construction on the structure without the MCNDC go-ahead.

Monday's hearing was the first in which MCNDC members offered their own opinions on the Knafel center. And after listening to the board members' comments, Harvard representatives said they are not sure when they will be ready to submit the plan for a vote.

In the meantime, Harvard has already planned a number of meetings between the architect and the Faculty Planning Committee to review the MCNDC's suggestions.

"They put a lot of issues forward for [the architect] to consider," Spiegelman told The Crimson.

During the next hearing before the MCNDC--scheduled for the end of the month--Harvard representatives said they plan to continue the dialogue. But they do not expect to ask for the conclusive vote.

"We have to make sure that we don't rush through this part of the process when we have spent so long listening and trying to respond to neighbors' concerns," said Mary H. Power, director of community relations at Harvard.

The six-member board of the MCNDC has the authority to rule on the "appropriateness" of all major construction within its district. The broad mandate leaves the board with jurisdiction over everything from the appearance of proposed buildings to the impact they will have on a neighborhood's "economic vitality."

On Monday, board members reviewed concerns over the Knafel Center's size, its possible effects on the neighborhood and the increased traffic it might bring.

However, much of the discussion was centered on less concrete elements of the proposed building.

"I don't love this building. I don't love it and I'm not going to love it," said John Moos, the chair of the MCNDC. "The question is: Does that make it inappropriate?" he asked.

To many area residents who spoke to the board earlier in the meeting, the answer was clear.

"The current scheme, even with the latest revisions, will not add beauty, stature or vitality to the neighborhood. It will stick out like a sore thumb," said one resident.

Many of the residents who expressed their concerns at Monday's meeting have been involved in the planning process of the Knafel center ever since the University first hatched the idea.

John Pitkin, the head of the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Association, has met monthly with University representatives to discuss neighborhood development for over 10 years.

On this project, he said the University has acted very well.

"I think the University has given in the right direction. Their intentions are honorable, their representatives have said all the right things," Pitkin said.

But according to Pitkin, the proposed building still fails the test of appropriateness.

"Your board has been given great flexibility," Pitkin told the MCNDC. "And with this flexibility comes the responsibility to turn down this proposal. The building is not appropriate to the neighborhood."