MAC Report Finally Done

The report that may herald a $30 million renovation of the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC) was finally submitted to Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles on Friday after a six-month delay.

The long delay may force Knowles, who commissioned the space analysis last year, to leave the decision on whether to proceed with renovations to his successor, who will likely be named this week.

“I’ll study it first, and then decide whether to decide myself, or leave it to my successor,” Knowles wrote in an e-mail yesterday.

Knowles plans to step down as dean on July 1.

“I was happy with the process, although it took a long time,” said Michael N. Lichten, director of physical resources for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).

The report outlines different options for increasing recreational space on campus, all of which include renovating the MAC.

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 has said he hopes a newly renovated MAC would include more space for student groups and possibly be open all night. The issue of student group space has proven difficult for College administrators lately, who decided last fall to evict three groups from their Thayer basement offices but have not yet done so.

Lichten said he does not think Knowles will make an immediate decision but will instead make suggestions for “some discussion about future steps.”

FAS hired HNTB Corp., a Boston consulting firm, to help with the study of FAS physical holdings.

Lichten suggested that some more planning and discussion will be needed before it will be possible to move the three varsity sports teams based in the MAC—wrestling, fencing and volleyball—across the river.

He said his only disappointment with the report was that “there aren’t any easy answers.”

HNTB’s lead architect for the project, Richard Friedson, said his firm conducted its analysis with an eye toward three top priorities set by Harvard: adding more space for recreational athletics, increasing locker room space for women’s varsity athletic teams and maintaining the current amount of field space.

Knowles originally commissioned the space analysis and report last year amid unanimous agreement among students and College administrators that the MAC’s facilities were inadequate.

Friedson said he had originally hoped to submit the report last October. Lewis estimated that the report would be released in the winter.

Both deadlines were missed because both HNTB and FAS wanted the report to be as thorough as possible, according to FAS representatives on the survey’s committee.

—Staff writer William M. Rasmussen can be reached at wrasmuss@fas.harvard.edu.