Construction Date Set for St. Paul's Lot

Harvard will begin construction this August of a two-building complex on the recently-acquired St. Paul's Church parking lot with a completion date set for spring, 1991, a University administrator said yesterday.

The only remaining barrier to University plans for affiliate housing on the site--now the largest undeveloped plot of land in Harvard Square--is clean-up of a "low level" of oil found on the property last summer, said Marilyn L. O'Connell, assistant director for urban planning and community affairs.

That contamination derailed a private developer's plans to build luxury condominiums on the site in February. St. Paul's has agreed to set aside $500,000 of Harvard's purchasing price to comply with state regulations for the clean-up, she said.

"We don't anticipate any problems," O'Connell said. "We expect to file [for a building permit] very soon."

Harvard purchased the site, which includes the St. Paul's rectory and its 4800 square-foot parking lot bordering Quincy and Leverett Houses, from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston two weeks ago for an undisclosed sum.

Harvard will convert the rectory into low- and moderate-income housing and build two six-story, brick buildings on the rest of the land, said O'Connell. She said the new brick structures, designed by the Boston firm Goody, Clancy and Associates, will together provide 80 rental units for Harvard affiliates.

A day care center and underground parking lot are also planned, O'Connell said.

"We think the design is very much in character with the buildings around it," said O'Connell.

O'Connell said that it was still uncertain whether graduates, undergraduates or faculty members will live in the new apartments.

"It's too soon to know the make-up of people who will be there, other than that they will be Harvard affiliates," O'Connell said.

Harvard Square Defense Fund Vice President R. Phillip Dowds said the University plans to proceed carefully in presenting its proposal to neighborhood residents.

St. Paul's will discuss the sale and development plans with parishioners at a meeting tonight, and Harvard intends to hold several public meetings within weeks, said Dowds, who is also a member of Cambridge Citizens for Liveable Neighborhoods.

"Hardly anybody has seen anything, and I doubt anyone has an opinion...Harvard is planning to trot it around very carefully," said Dowds.

St. Paul's will use the proceeds of the land sale to build a new student center, chapel and choir school next to the church on the corner of Mt. Auburn St. and Arrow St., said Julie A. Reardon '90, president of the Harvard Catholic Student Association that is based at St. Paul's.

St. Paul's pastor Father John P. Boles could not be reached for comment yesterday.