Workers Start Phase One Of New Coop Book Annex

Construction began this week on the Harvard Cooperative Society's new four-story annex.

The first two floors of the building, which should be entirely finished by Jan. 1, 1966, will be devoted to books with the top two levels being used for offices and storage space.

The first phase of the building, adjacent to the present text book annex on Palmer St., is scheduled to be ready in eight months. The present annex will then be demolished and replaced by the second phase of the new structure.

Total cost of the new annex will be "in excess of $2 million," according to John G. Morrill, general manager of the Coop. Morrill said night that "the need for more room is obvious" and that in the present annex there is "no comfort, no service" and only" terrifically crowded conditions."

The Coop was forced to redraw plans for the new building last spring when a request for a zoning variance, permitting off-street loading of trucks, was refused. Morrill estimated last night that the resulting design changes have cost the Coop a "substantial" amount of money and six months' time.

Local businessmen, concerned for the "aesthetics" of the Square, opposed the zoning variance. They also asked that a 140-year-old home on Palmer St. be preserved, suggesting it be used as a children's bookstore.

Last July Morrill termed this plan as "inconceivable" and the small house was demolished.

The Coop wants to have the second and third floors of the annex linked to its main store by a closed bridge over Palmer St.

When the new building is finished, it will be one of the largest college bookstores in the country. A press release bragged that the "Coop's new book facility will be the largest in the nation," but Morrill said he "hadn't any figures off-hand to prove that."