Harvard May Exchange Land With Cambridge

The University may exchange a portion of Observatory Hill for the Corporal Burns playground, a possible site for the proposed tenth House, according to Charles P. Whitlock, assistant to the President for civic affairs.

With the acquisition of the playground, located at the corner of Memorial Drive and Flagg Street, the University would own the complete riverfront property from Dunster House to Western Avenue, Whitlock said. The Cambridge City Council, spurred on by Observatory residents, wants the University land for a new park and playground.

Although the University will not sell the Observatory land outright, Whitlock said, it is interested in exchanging it for the Burns playground. This playground riverfront area has long been considered as a second choice for the tenth House if the sale of the MTA's storage and switching yards along Boylston St. to the University fails to materialize.

Residents Petition

Observatory Hill residents, whose children the University freely allows to play on the Observatory site, have signed a petition urging the Council to re-zone the land to an A-2 classification, for single family residential lots. The University was denied its request for a C-2 zoning so that it could build multi-family housing for married students.

The Cambridge Planning Board has compromised by zoning the area C-1, multi-family dwellings with a 35-foot height limit. If the area had reverted to the original A-2 classification, the University could not have constructed academic buildings on the Observatory grounds, according to the new ordinance.

Councillor Joseph A. DeGuglielmo '29, who proposed the land swap, charged that since the A-2 zoning would in effect deny the University use of its land, it would be unconstitutional. The residents suggested that the University donate the space as a public park, but DeGuglielmo replied that Harvard could hardly be expected to do this. The city should buy or swap the land, he proposed.