Home Away From Home

If planned reconstruction work on Soldiers Field is not completed by next September, Harvard football fans may find themselves packing off for Boston University, Boston College or as far away as Holy Cross for the Crimson's 1982 "home" games.

Joseph D. Bertagna '73, director of sports information, said this week that among the possible alternative sites for the Crimson's home contests, B.U. and B.C. are closest, but he added that both fields have artificial turf, which Harvard is not accustomed to playing on. It would also be difficult for the team to get practice time on an artificial surface, he said.

Holy Cross, which has a natural grass field, is another possible site, but Bertagna said distance is a major drawback. Holy Cross is located in Worcester, a half-hour drive from Cambridge.

The University is reportedly considering Schaefer Stadium in Foxboro as a possible location for next year's Yale Game if Soldiers Field is not ready by the end of the season. Yale reportedy rejected a suggestion by Harvard to play next year's Game in New Haven and the 1983 contest in Cambridge because 1983 marks the 100th match-up between the two teams.

Harvard officials will consider bids from several area contracting firms within the next week for the Soldiers Field job and hope to set September 15 as the deadline for completion of reconstruction.

But in light of the delayed construction of the Briggs Cage athletic facility, some University officials are pessimistic about the chances of completing the work before the football home opener.

Briggs Cage--the future home of the Harvard men's and women's basketball team--was scheduled to have been ready November for a special dedication game between the men's team and Stanford. But because of construction delays, the hoopsters are still playing in the ancient Indoor Athletic Building, and the Cage will not be ready until February at the earliest.

Bertagna said earlier this week that he has "no faith" that a construction company will complete the stadium work by next fall. "I just have a gut feeling that it would be foolish to try to meet the September 15 deadline," he added.