Harvard Administration Will Ask Corporation Today To Designate Site For Tenth Undergraduate House

The Administration will today ask the Corporation, Harvard's highest governing body, to approve a site for the long-delayed Tenth House. If the Corporation does, final planning for the House will begin immediately and all construction should be completed no later than the fall of 1969.

Two Plots

The House would be built on two plots of land--one directly behind Dunster House and the other adjacent to the Leverett Towers. Cowperthwaite St. divides the two segments of the site. The Administration hoped to build the House solely on the land behind Dunster, but was unable to purchase one crucially-located plot on the block. Attempts to acquire this land have stalled progress on the tenth House for more than two years.

As presently planned, the House would accommodate 400 students. It would consist of three low-rise units and one high-rise tower. Designed by the same architects that did Leverett Towers and the new section of Quincy, the House would provide each student with a single bedroom. Suites would be arranged, however, to allow for different size roommate groups.

Construction of the yet unnamed House would sharply reduce the number of students allowed to live off-campus. About 200 lived off-campus this year, but Dean Monro said that as soon as the Tenth House was built the College would revert to a former policy allowing only students who were veterans, who had been away several years, or who had a special reason (such as health) to live off-campus.

The new House would also present the Administration with a number of options to ease present crowding in the Houses. It could abandon Claverly Hall as a dormitory, and simultaneously deconvert a small number of suites in the Houses. Or, if it kept the 120 spaces in Claverly, it could deconvert a far larger number of House suites. No firm decisions have been made, but officials seem to be leaning towards retaining Claverly. "A lot of boys like rooms in Claverly," Dean Monro noted last week.

Administration officials hope the Corporation will give final approval to their plan today. Getting started on the Tenth House has been one of the most frustrating experiences in recent years. In the early part of the decade, Harvard sought to locate the House on the Bennett St. MBTA yards. Unable to acquire this site, the College shifted its attention to its second choice -- the location behind Dunster.

This block, bounded by Banks, Fiagg, Cowperthwaite Streets, and McCarthy Road was large enough for the entire House. Harvard acquired all the plots except that owned by Henry McNamara, a city worker. But his land, located on McCarthy Road, was crucial. "It was right where the dining hall was supposed to be," one high Administration official noted recently.

Harvard encountered difficulty in convincing McNamara to sell, but because of the location the Administration was willing to offer a substantial sum for the land. First, the University offered in the vicinity of $40,000 to $45,000 for the plot; then, in a move to help McNamara avoid paying capital gains taxes on the sale, offered to swap houses. In return for his home, Harvard would provide a house sub-divided into apartments. The apartments would provide annual income, Harvard officials reasoned, and the house's value was comparable to the money offer.

Thus far, the offers have been without success. Part of the problem, some Harvard officials say, is pride. But they also cite a more formidable obstacle: disagreement between McNamara and his wife. The two own the building on McCarthy Rd. jointly; they are separated and were not able to agree on terms of sale. "There was never any indication that the two were going to get together," one member of the Administration said yesterday.

Faced with this situation and eager to begin construction, the Administration this spring asked the House's architects to consider an alternative. The architects then relocated some of the House across Cowperthwaite. McNamara's home, however, will be bordered on three sides by the new House.

Administration officials concede that the delay and change in sites was expensive in a number of respects:

First, during the delay, the cost of the House went up. It is now projected at about $6 million, but L. Gard Wiggins, administrative vice-president, estimated last night that it would have been three or four per cent lower for each of the years Harvard was delayed.

Second, there is the intangible expense of using the land across Cowperthwaite, which could have been used for other construction. And finally, there is the cost of abandoning the first choice, and most desirable site.

In the light of their experience so far, officials are not optimistic that they will be able to acquire the McNamara land even if the alternative plan is adopted. They emphasize, however, that if Harvard does get the land, the House design could easily be modified to fit all on one block