Landmark In Need Of Repairs

The historic building that houses the Committee on Degrees in Women's Studies and the creative writing department will undergo construction this spring to repair a sagging roof and wall, the construction project manager said yesterday.

"Some new beams have to be put in, and the building has to be jacked up every day a little bit for like four or five days," said Alana M. Knuff, capital project manager for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS).

Once the roof is repaired, FAS will go ahead with its original plans to paint the little white house at 34 Kirkland St. and add a handicapped-access ramp.

But before construction can begin, the Cambridge Historical Commission must approve the FAS plan, and a contractor must be found, Knuff said.

She said that the sagging probably began in 1972, when a partition wall in the building was improperly removed. Only the rear sections of the buildings, where the sagging is particularly noticeable, will be renovated, she said.

Knuff said a pair of creative writing teachers have moved their offices from the rear of the building to different rooms in the house.

"I moved the two people out of there so they wouldn't weigh [the floor] down anymore," Knuff said.

Disrupting Classes

In addition, the creative writing department will have some of its classes disrupted by the renovations, department officials said.

"The only problem is that the [structural] problems are on the second floor, where we have classes, and that will distract those classes for four to five weeks," said Michael Martone, a Briggs-Copeland lecturer on English whose office is in the building.

The Committee on Degrees in Women's Studies, which moved into the building's first-floor offices this January after the English department moved out, will not be affected by the construction, Knuff said.

The three-story house, built in 1840 by Oliver Hastings, is registered in the National Register as a historical landmark. Hastings also constructed the Core Office Building at 38 Kirkland St. The two buildings are classics of the American Greek Revival style, Knuff said.

'So Historic'

"[Knuff] really wants to save the building because it is so historic, a really nice building," said Martone, "We'd like to save it too. We really like it."

When the concentration was first approved, the Committee on Degrees in Women's Studies was unable to move into the spot chosen by University administrators because FAS officials determined the floor would collapse under the weight of its filing cabinets.