Maguire Meets New Roadblocks To Study

C.E. Maguire Inc., the firm preparing the environmental impact statement on the Kennedy Library for the General Services Administration, made headway this week in clearing its name with the Cambridge community, but announced it faces a new obstacle to its work--a lack of plans for the library.

Architect I.M. Pei has decided to "rethink" his plans for the Kennedy Library in response to community criticism of the project, leaving Maguire with only a concept of the library to work with.

At a public meeting Wednesday sponsored by Councilor Alfred E. Vellucci, Maguire project director George Grant said Pei's library plan is undergoing "major revision." Unless Pei releases the plans within a month, Grant said, Maguire will not be able to meet its June deadline.

On Tuesday night, Maguire executives met with community groups to answer charges that it had unethically altered a report for another client, the Massachusetts Port Authority.

After the meeting, Oliver Brooks, chairman of the Harvard Square Development Task Force, said he was satisfied with the consultant firm's answers to the allegations.

Many community leaders are still wary of Maguire, however. Councilor David A. Wylie said at the meeting, "Your firm is beginning the project under a credibility cloud. Despite your merits in past projects, Maguire is suspect."

The GSA, Maguire's employer, continued to run around like a headless chicken this week, first stating none of its representatives would appear at meetings on the consultant's qualifications, then showing up at Vellucci's meeting--but remaining in the background.