Rainy Day Blues

When it came to the roof of Harvard's Science Center yesterday, the operational phrase was, "When it rains, it pours."

There were leaks in the lobby. There was a leak in the basement. It rained in the office of Cabot's librarian. More leaks spring in the Science Centre than ever plagued the Nixon Administration.

"I have never in 10 years had so many leaks in one day," said a flustered Hein W. Erdmann, the superintendent of the Science Center, where he counted a dozen "major leaks."

The most visible leak dripped from the skylight over the "arcade" area between the first and second floors, where four 30-gallon trash barrels caught the drops. "I'm running out of barrels," Erdmann exclaimed as he noted a new leak springing in the lobby outside Cabot.

As roofers worked to patch the leak in the skylight, Erdmann blamed the indoor deluge on cracks that develop between the glass and the panes when the building shifts. He said that the skylight has leaked for years and added that the glass should be removed and rubber seals installed.

Larry R. Kilduff, who is responsible for maintaining Cambridge buildings run by Harvard, said the wind-driven rain yesterday aggravated the Science Center leaking problems, causing smaller leaks to spring up all over campus.

Benjamin N. Smith '87 provided an alternative explanation for the leaks. "It must have been a Yale engineer that designed the place," he said.

The Science Center, which is used daily by thousands of students and faculty, was built in 1972 at a cost of more than $27 million, Erdmann.