Eliot-Kirkland Kitchen Begun

Students accustomed to using the small alley between Kirkland and Eliot Houses as a shortcut to John F. Kennedy Street are going to be getting some unwanted exercize starting this week.

Since Monday, the walkway has been permanently blocked off to make way for the construction of a $2 million kitchen that will serve the two river houses. Besides providing new cooking and dishwashing facilities for both houses, the facility will open up additional dining and serving spaces where the present kitchens are located.

Students will not be the only ones inconvenienced by the new construction. Eliot House Master Alan E. Heimert's garage was leveled yesterday to make way for the new facility.

The project should be completed by September, said University Planning Officer Thomas Didier.

The plan is a revised version of a project that was rejected two years ago. The older version called for construction of a tunnel through which the students could walk out to Kennedy St. University officials said that plan was scrapped because of high costs and concerns that it would cause congestion.

"The previous plan was rejected because the circulation of food and workers would have been interfered with," Didier said. "The plan would have been both inefficient and too expensive."

One level of the new kitchen will face out towards Kennedy St., and the second level will sit at the same height as the surrounding houses. The facility will be built in Georgian-style architecture similar to the adjacent houses.

Planners for the kitchen's development said that the facility will eventually save money on labor costs.

"It's a much more price-effective plan than the present one," said Didier. "We'll eventually see great savings in operations since we'll need a lot less workers." Richard Montville, College dining halls operations manager, said that none of the present workers will be laid off as a result of the construction of the new kitchen.

The new kitchen will be merged with the existing central kitchen and bakery beneath Eliot and Kirkland Houses. These facilities will continue distributing soups, sauces and bread-stuffs to Eliot, Kirkland, Winthrop, Leverett and Lowell Houses.

"I'm very pleased that it's being done," said Kirkland House Master Donald H. Pfister. "It will vastly improve the serving facilities and the kitchen equipment at Kirkland House."