Holiday Inn Developer Studying Plan For Shorter, L-Shaped Hotel Building

The architectural task force studying the Holiday Inn planned for Harvard Square sent its recommendations for an eight or nine story L-shaped building to the developer yesterday morning.

The developer, Kanavos Enterprises, had originally proposed an 18-story tower on the Mt. Auburn St. site adjacent to the future Kennedy Library.

Kanavos is expected to decide whether or not to switch to the new design by the end of the week.

The developer is under no legal commitment to alter the proposed tower, but local neighborhood groups have indicated they will continue to fight any building that they feel is detrimental to the Square environment. The civic groups have said they are most concerned about the bulk and design of the building, parking facilities, and traffic flow.

"The changes are very complex and should only be considered as a whole." Theodore A. Monacelli, associate professor of Urban Design and Cambridge's architectural consultant, said yesterday. He declined, however, to cite specific facts about the new design.

The task force--composed of Monacelli, as architect for Kanavos and a neighborhood architect--had been working on modifying the proposed hotel structure for two weeks. Kanavos halted the hotel construction for the duration of the architectural study, but the developer is expected to resume building as soon as a design is chosen.