Cyclotron Demolition Worries Neighbors

Neighborhood residents north of the Yard expressed their reservations about Harvard’s plans to build a 730-spot underground garage and tear down the University’s aboveground particle accelerator, or cyclotron, at a community meeting last night.

Concerns ranged from worries about public health to questions about truck traffic associated with excavation.

Harvard officials discussed long-term plans for the area beyond the Science Center, but deferred replying to specific questions until the next community meeting, to be held at the end of the month.

“We hope to address all the concerns thoroughly,” said Mary Power, Harvard’s senior director of community relations.

Community members said they were concerned about residual radioactive matter in the concrete of the cyclotron.

“There are a lot of public health issues associated with decommissioning the cyclotron,” said resident Billie Blumstein.

“What steps will be taken to prevent the soil and contaminants from becoming airborne?” asked Sheldon Krimsky, a resident of the Agassiz area and Tufts professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning.

Beyond specific concerns about the cyclotron, neighborhood members and Harvard officials discussed more long-term planning.

“We are a community that, in my opinion, loves Harvard,” Blumstein said. “But as a direct neighbor, we are under siege and it’s not entirely Harvard’s fault.”

In general, Harvard intends to increase use of the neighborhood with more buildings and green space to replace parking lots, according to Harvard’s architect and urban designer Dennis Carlone, who has been working on the area between Hammond and Gorham Streets.

“We also want to eliminate above grade parking structures and most surface parking lots,” said Harvard Planning and Real Estate representative Charles Studen.

Representatives of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and the law school also discussed long-term plans for boosting Faculty size and the increased need for space.

“A main priority for FAS right now is to increase the size of the Faculty by 40,” said David A. Zewinski ’76, associate dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for physical resources and planning, a move that will require more physical space.

Zewinski cited a need for five new science buildings, which he said Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles had discussed with top science Faculty two years ago, including projects already completed and currently in progress—including a Center for Genomic Research, a center for imaging, a neuroscience center, a computer science center and a center for studies on the environment.

Zewinski added that new science Faculty demand as much as 1,000 square feet, whereas retiring scientists might have used only 500 feet.

Law School Professor Daniel Meltzer said that a recent survey of law students pointed to the need for smaller classes.

“We have a very large law school, and it’s hard to create a welcoming environment in a very large school,” he said. “We’d like to have smaller classrooms for these smaller classes.”

—Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu.