Neighbors Oppose Knafel

A group of 40 concerned neighbors met last Tuesday night at the Swedenborg Chapel located at the corner of Quincy and Kirkland Streets to protest Harvard's plans to construct a new 80,000 square foot academic building just feet behind the chapel's walls.

The structure, which will be called the Knafel Center for Government and International Studies, will house the government department and provide extra office space for the nearby Center for International Affairs.

Local residents have expressed concern about the possible noise and pollution that may result from the center's construction.

Under the leadership of Michael L. Charney, a Kirkland Street resident, several dozen neighbors formed the "Campaign to Stop Knafel Center" in October.

The group collected 150 signatures on a neighborhood petition opposing the construction of the Center and delivered the petition to President Neil L. Rudenstine on Jan. 12.

The Campaign is now allied with the Harvard Square Defense Fund and boasts 180 members in support of its cause.

Congregation members in attendance at last Tuesday night's meeting also voiced concern over the likelihood that the large building will block sunlight from illuminating several stained glass windows on the eastern side of the chapel.

"It would obscure light through the windows," said Lars-Erik Wiberg, president of the church council. "We've had it that way for 100 years, and it's quite distressing to have it otherwise," he said.

The land on which the church stands is owned by the Swedenborg School of Religion, a seminary located in Newton, Mass., for preparing future ministers in the Swedenborg faith, a Christian denomination.

The School sold the plot of land on which Gund Hall presently stands to Harvard in 1966 for $750,000, according to Wiberg.

The School has also tried to sell the property on which the chapel stands, but it is no longer on the market, explained Mary Kay Klein, the school's president.

"It is not currently for sale," she said, adding that Harvard has expressed interest in buying the property in the past.