Concern on Cowperthwaite

When Mather-, Dunster- and Lever-ites return to Harvard this fall, they’ll find themselves sharing the East River with wrecking balls and cement mixers. The songs of sparrows, dog barks along the Leverett-Dunster walkway, the gentle whirring of Louie’s fluorescent Busch beer sign—all gone, muffled by the sounds of gas and steel.

In the search for more on-campus graduate housing, the Harvard Planning and Allston Initiative (HPAI) has decided to plunk down its latest project on Grant and Cowperthwaite streets. A building that will house more than 300 graduate students and faculty, the new construction will bring Harvard closer to its ultimate goal of housing 50 percent of graduate students on campus by 2011. With an underground garage and an attractive design the grad center is a much better use of the space than the parking lot that is currently there. Plus, with more over-21 year-olds nearby, Louie’s may just stick around a little longer. These advantages notwithstanding, The HPAI has much work to do to ensure that this construction project does not adversely affect its host neighborhood.

With construction scheduled to start in the summer of 2005 and finish in the fall of 2007, the building process will affect Harvard affiliates as well as Cambridge residents living nearby. The HPAI must take measures to ensure that the concerns of both of these parties are addressed and respected. Planners should contact the House Masters of Mather, Leverett, and Dunster—all of whom had heard little to nothing about the project until last week. The Masters are familiar with the unique issues the new construction will pose to House residents. Leverites in G-Tower with windows facing the site, for instance, are worried about privacy. And all of the East River is worried about noise, especially since it was revealed that construction could start as early as seven in the morning every weekday.

As part of a University initiative, this project should tailor itself around the habits of the University community. If construction has to start at seven, then crews should at least be told to avoid jackhammering or other loud activities until later in the morning.

Once completed, the 55-foot tall building will block the view of a significant portion of Tower-dwellers, reduce green space, and change the social dynamic of the entire area. These are faint qualms about such a crucial housing complex, but they have been raised by East River undergrads. Since the case for construction is so strong, there is no reason why the University and the HPAI shouldn’t be able to make a convincing argument to House residents and Masters about the necessity of the new construction. They must do so. Intra-University bad blood is unnecessary and unproductive at this early stage.

With a little PR and a few compromises in construction policies, the HPAI can address all the concerns raised by East River denizens. If the HPAI heads off trepidation on the part of students, tutors, and faculty members before the first cranes start rolling in, the resulting community will be stronger because of it.