Overseers May Recommend Repair for Athletic Grounds

After observing the poor condition of the House athletic fields between the stadium and the Charles, the Overseer's Committee on Visiting the College may recommend a repair job costing nearly $600,000.

The Committee, which would suggest necessary improvements to the Corporation, visited the area two weeks ago at the request of the Department of Athletics, according to Dean Monro. Involving only two older playing fields, the site in question does not include the new Webster Fields, built with funds from the Program for Harvard College.

Although the University reportedly filled in these fields with compressible slag after a flood in 1956, the fill has sunk so far into the former tidal area that drainage pipes, 30 feet apart, are almost literally supporting the entire area. Instead of allowing rainwater to drain off, the silt serves as a reservoir where seagulls have been known to nest.

"Anybody who has played on the fields knows that something has to be done pretty quickly," President Pusey told a press conference yesterday. However, Pusey added that he was uncertain as to when action would be taken.

Although Administration officials cited one possible conservation plan, they declined to estimate its possible cost. This plan would involve filling the entire area with about eight feet of iron slag, which would solidify and act as a drain for the water. New turf would cover the slag.

Certain sources have indicated that such a plan would require about $600,000. It is reported that the 1956 repairs cost about $120,000.

The 1956 repairs were "nothing I would describe as major and were not intended to be permanent," L. Gard Wiggins, administrative vice-President declared. At that time the University could not afford complete reconstruction of the fields, Wiggins said.

The land is so swampy that after World War I surplus dealers reportedly disposed of several French 75 mm. cannon by removing their wheels and carriages and letting them sink into the mud.