Truck Hits Northwest Building, Causing Minor Damage and Temporary Street Closure

A food delivery truck hit the corner of the Northwest Science Building on Wednesday morning, causing minor structural damage and a temporary street closure.

The Cambridge Fire Department and the Harvard University Policy Department responded to reports of a collision shortly after 10 a.m. A quarter-mile stretch of Garden Street will be closed while the incident is under investigation, according to recordings of a dispatch call that were made public on an online police scanner.

Police have closed the underpass of the Northwest Building to pedestrians, and walkways near the back side of the building remain closed. University maintenance staff closed the second floor walkway above the underpass to pedestrians shortly after 11 a.m.

Steven G. Catalano, an HUPD spokesperson, confirmed that a vehicle had struck the Northwest Building and that HUPD is investigating. The Cambridge Fire Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The truck shattered two glass panels near one of the entrances to the building, which also caused minor damage to the side of the truck. Emergency responders remained on the scene as of Wednesday morning.

Responders are checking for potential minor structural damage at the Northwest labs. By Hugo C. Chiasson

The Northwest building is the second building near Harvard’s campus to suffer physical damage from a vehicle this year. In April, a car crash caused minor interior and exterior damage to the building of the Harvard Advocate, Harvard’s quarterly literary magazine.

A driver also caused minor damage to the building of the Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to publish a so-called humor magazine, after crashing into it in 2021. The Crimson’s building was damaged in 2019 after a driver crashed while trying to park on Plympton Street.

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.

—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.