Chasing a Pipe Dream

On a campus without a student center—primarily for lack of land to build one—the vacant lot at 90 Mount Auburn Street screams “student space.” The hole in the ground across the street from Felipe’s Mexican Taqueria and sandwiched between final clubs is no ordinary location: It is the only vacant land in the immediate vicinity of both Harvard Yard and the River Houses. But instead of new student space, Harvard Real Estate Services is building an office complex on the site for the administration of the Harvard University Library (HUL), while most of Hilles Library, at a much less convenient location, is being converted into a kind of temporary student center for undergraduates to use until a larger student center is built in Allston.

Members of the Undergraduate Council’s Student Affairs Committee are now considering how strongly the council should push the University to reverse this apparent misuse of campus space and build a small student center at 90 Mount Auburn. But we urge the members of the council to carefully consider the feasibility of such a proposal before devoting significant time or energy to it.

It is debatable if library administration offices on this site are actually a misuse of space. As proposed, the new building will combine the offices of the Weissman Preservation Center and the Office of Information Services at a single location. As preservation falls increasingly into the realm of digital technology, it is natural, if not essential, that the preservationists and scanning experts share the same offices. Furthermore, since much of HUL’s activities involve collaborations between professors from different departments and schools on campus, it is realistic for HUL to ask for centrally located offices. Harvard’s library system is one of the University’s greatest resources, and since a centralized office will allow HUL to function more efficiently, it is not so unreasonable for the University to allow them to use prime campus space.

With concrete already poured in the foundation, any changes would also likely be costly and time-consuming. And reaching the construction phase has already been a substantial hurdle, including tussles with residents and zoning boards, which led to a complete overhaul to the architectural plans.

A subsequent redesign risks unraveling the careful plans the University has already secured for these offices. Finally, the building will contain only 24,000 square feet of offices, whereas the renovation of Hilles will generate some 50,000 square feet of student space. While Hilles isn’t anyone’s first choice for student space, it may be unwise to sacrifice half its area for a better location.

As tempting as a new student center would be, the council has two pressing issues already facing it: to manage its newly enlarged budget and to continue to work with the administration to gather student input on Allston and the Curricular Review. We can not understate the importance of either issue—one affects the everyday life of current students, and one will shape the college experience of future Harvardians. If initial conversations with Harvard administrators reveal a willingness to discuss a change in the future of 90 Mount Auburn, then the council should proceed cautiously. But if the council finds its proposal unlikely to succeed, as we think it will, it should drop the issue and devote itself fully to other pressing matters.