GSA to Name Firm to Study JFK Library

The General Services Administration will name this week the consulting firm to conduct the environmental impact study on the proposed John F. Kennedy Memorial Library.

Robert T. Griffin, special administrator of the GSA, said yesterday that the department was in the final stages of the selection process and would name a consultant "within a couple of days."

Griffin said that the naming of a consultant has been delayed because of the time required to study the "voluminous" material submitted by nine firms competing for the $250,000 contract. The announcement had been scheduled for January 9.

The selection of a company to prepare the impact statement is the first step in a year-long environmental study required before Kennedy Library construction can begin.

"The nine proposals [for the study] are in final discussions between the contracting and environmental affairs departments," Griffin said.

Helen Keyes, special administrator of the Kennedy Library Corporation, said yesterday she is confident that the environmental impact statement will clear up the community controversy surrounding the library's construction.

However, Neighborhood Ten, a local group, has already given notice of its intent to contest the GSA's study and, if necessary, go to court to half building of the library in Cambridge.

The firm that receives the contract for the impact study will be required to submit a draft of its report 120 days after signing with the GSA. Griffin said that some of the firms competing for the bid expressed doubt that they could complete the work within four months.