Review of the University Heating Plant Reveals Several Interesting Facts--Weeks Bridge Built to Conduct Heat

That University Hall was once the largest heating plant in the University, that at present the College Yard is catacombed with an extensive series of heating funnels, eight feet wide and eight feet high, and that the Weeks Memorial Bridge was constructed with the principal idea in view of carrying heat conduits to the Business School, are among the interesting facts gathered in a recent survey of Harvard's heating system.

The construction of the Freshman Halls in 1914 marked the real beginning of central heating at the University. Because of the proximity of the power-producing unit of the Boston Elevated Railway Company, the obvious solution of the dormitory heating problem was a "hook-up" with the boiler room of the power plant. The way in which the concession was secured is one of the unwritten chapters of Harvard diplomacy, but the negotiations were successful and the economies in heating costs led the College authorities to consider at once ways and means for extending the service.

As the Widener Library neared completion, a sizeable subway was constructed from University Hall past the corner of the new library, under Massachusetts Avenue, down Linden Street, under Mt. Auburn Street, and thence to the rear of the then new Gore Hall of the Freshman group. At that point, when the steam pipes were installed, connection was made with the system from the Elevated power plant. The heating service, even at that great distance, proved satisfactory and it was gradually extending until all the Yard buildings, except the house occupied by Professor Palmer, were connected with the central plant. Later the new Fogg Art Museum was brought into the system.