Parking

(Ed. Note--The Crimson does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in printed communications. No attention will be paid to anonymous letters and only under special conditions, at the request of the writer, will names be withheld.)

To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

If the Business School persists in its paternalistic attitude towards the garage proprietors of Harvard Square, then here is an idea which might solve the overnight parking problem and help balance the H.A.A. budget as well.

I have measured roughly and estimated that under the concrete horseshoe of the Stadium, in a space fairly well sheltered from snow, rain, and urchins, there is room to park two hundred automobiles from the end of the football season until June, without interfering in any way with either the Pistol Range or the maintenance activities of Dennis Enright's men. If a charge of $2 per car per month were made, some $2800 might accrue to the Athletic Association. I am sure that the student carriage trade will not consider $2 unreasonable, inasmuch as the public garages of the City charge $12 and up; the private sheds back of Dunster House fetch not less than $6; and the open air lots get from $5 to $3 depending on the amount of broken glass underfoot.

The chief difficulties in the way of this scheme are those of fire hazard and insurance; the use of untaxed property for profitable ends; and the construction of a second driveway into the space. The first objection could be met by employing student night-watchmen. The second would be nullified by the strictly educational and athletic use to which this small profit could be put. And the third would be solved by an inexpensive wooden ramp and the removal of one iron post.

In the event that this first scheme should not prove feasible, then perhaps the large, cindered area back of the Stadium, the zone now used as a paying parking space on big game days, could be turned to that same purpose the whole year round. It has, I believe, a maximum capacity of about 1400 cars, and could be opened at once for the dual purpose of aiding the H.A.A. and keeping the fair name of Harvard out of the traffic courts. Eugene Du Bois, ocC.