University Seen Ready To Build Eighth House

The University has apparently received enough funds from the first three months of "The Program for Harvard College" to begin the actual groundwork for at least one new House in the spring, the CRIMSON has learned authoritatively. It is believed that the actual announcement will be made by the University sometime next month.

One of the Houses--the first to be built since the early 1930's--will probably be situated on the land now occupied by the MTA car barns, across Boylston Street from Kirkland and Eliot Houses.

The announcement of the new House should give great impetus to the "Program"--a giant $85 million fund drive, outlined by Pusey on Nov. 1 in a report to the Overseers.

It has been no secret that the eight and ninth Houses have been on top of the priority list for a long time. Just a week ago, Dean Leighton, in his report to the President asked for two Houses to meet the needs of present enrollment. On three separate occasions during the past year, Pusey has called overcrowding in the Houses, one of the College's principle problems.

It is believed that the new Houses will cost approximately three million dollars, and will be built without much of the frills of the present Georgian-type, such as private bathrooms and the vertical-type entry.

With open land a problem in Cambridge, the University has always eyed the MTA land, which is conveniently located to the Yard and other Houses. The main obstacle in the past has been the fact that the MTA could not afford to part with any of its existing facilities.

To meet this problem, it was learned last night from Richard A. Sullivan, assistant to the president of the MTA, that the University has hired engineering and architectural firms to find a solution. Sullivan confirmed that a "very practical solution" under consideration would move the tracks beneath the ground and build above them. It is believed that this idea--of building over the subway--has been favorably received by the University.