Harvard May Keep Property Off National Historic Register

More than 60 University properties nominated last month for the National Historic Register may never make that list because of a bill passed this month by Congress and expected to be enacted within a week by the president.

The bill would require owners' consent before property could be placed on the register. Harvard had objected to the inclusion of some of the buildings on the list.

But Pat Weslowski, director of the state historical commission, said yesterday that even with the law, the University may still need approval from the Department of the Interior to renovate or demolish the buildings nominated for the list.

The department might also be able to review federal money affecting buildings nominated for the list, Weslowski said. She added the main support for the new law comes from owners of commercial property who can suffer "tax disincentives" if they tamper with registered property.

Weslowski said the bill would likely be signed "any day" by President Carter, but added that no plan for implementing it had yet been approved. "We may have to go through the whole process again with the buildings we've just nominated," she said.

Harvard--and MIT and Lesley--had objected to including many of their buildings on the register because that would restrict their use of federal money. The state historical commission ignored their complaints last month, voting overwhelmingly to nominate buildings from each campus to the register.

The Harvard buildings include the half of Harvard Yard containing Widener Library and Memorial Church (the other half is already on the register), most of the River Houses, the Radcliffe Yard, and the block between Quincy and Prescott Sts.

Harvard officials were unavailable for comment.