Environmental Study Says JFK Library Will Have Minimal Impact on Square

The General Services Administration yesterday released a draft impact statement on the John F. Kennedy Library that concludes the $27 million project would have negligible environmental effects on Harvard Square.

The 600-page report says that construction of the library at the site across from Eliot House would bring nearly a million visitors to the Square annually, but would only minimally affect auto congestion and air pollution in the area.

Excerpts from the statement appear on page 3.

After holding public hearings on the draft statement, the GSA will issue a final report on the library and decide whether to build in Cambridge.

Unless the GSA substantially alters the statement after the hearings, there appears to be no serious block to construction of the library.

The report states that during the first three "peak" years of operation, the library will draw about 1,340,000 visitors annually. After that, the study predicts only 960,000 visitors a year.

Although more than 90 per cent of all visitors will come by car or bus, the report concludes that there will be a maximum traffic increase of 5.7 per cent on Boylston St., and 3 per cent on other surrounding roads.

Two-Hour Parking

Visitors will be allowed to park at the library for no more than two hours. The design calls for 700 parking spaces, 400 on-site and 300 back-up spots in Allston.

"The net increase in parking demand generated by Library visitors will be entirely satisfied by these two facilities," the GSA said.

The GSA found that air quality in the Harvard Square area presently exceeds federal standards for carbon monoxide concentrations 60 to 70 per cent of the time.

However, the report continues, by the 1978 library opening the increase in pollution due to visitors' cars will be more than offset by the introduction of new auto emission-control devices.

"The incremental increase in traffice induced by the Library will have an insignificant effect on the attainment and maintenance of such standards," the GSA said.

The study also finds that the library will have a noticeable effect on noise levels in the Square, raising it from an average 67 decibels to 71 decibels. The new level will be high enough to interfere with conversational speech.

Evaluating the economic impact of the library, the study said the complex would generate $2.6 million annually in sales revenues during the peak period and $1.87 million in subsequent years.

The report said this increase of two to three per cent in Square sales would not linduce the construction of new retail shops, restaurants or hotels.

The impact statment also considered 36 alternative sites for the library, including the Watertown arsenal and the Charlestown Naval Yard.

The GSA concluded that while five of the sites could "physically accommodate the library, availability and cost factors are serious concerns with respect to all of them."

The agency prepared the draft report with the assistance of C.E. Maguire Inc., a Waltham engineering firm, which last spring won a $186,000 contract to undertake the research.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, completion of an environmental impact statment is required before construction on a government project may begin.

Preparation and release of the study have been delayed four times, principally because the Kennedy Library Corporation decided to redesign the complex last spring.

Architect I.M. Pei last June unveiled his design for a scaled-down library and museum facing the Charles River