MBTA Kiosk Named an Historic Place

The kiosk in Harvard Square has been placed on the National Register of Historical Places, making it eligible for federal funding for restoration and preservation, Massachusetts Secretary of State Paul H. Guzzi '64 said Friday.

The kiosk is in danger of destruction because of the MBTA's planned extension of the Red Line subway to Arlington.

The register chose to include the kiosk because of its well-preserved "curvilinear iron detail and imaginative roof profile," Guzzi added.

The MBTA owns the kiosk and may legally destroy it even though it is on the register, Barbara E. Carnick, assistant press secretary to Guzzi, Said yesterday.

If the MBTA chooses to preserve the kiosk, the National Park Service will grant half the funds necessary for restoration, but the MBTA would have to raise the other half itself. Carnick said that as yet the MBTA has not applied for any grant.

The MBTA will announce its plans for the kiosk in a press conference early next week.

Immovable Object

If the kiosk is to remain on the register, it cannot be moved or relocated unless it is clearly in danger of destruction, Coy M. Lasister, grant coordinator for the Massachusetts Historical Committee, said Yesterday.

Carnick said the kiosk will probably remain on the register even if it is moved.

An architect's model of the Square after the extension is completed, which appeared in the "Red Line News," an MBTA publication, includes a newsstand in place of the subway entrance, and a triangular plaza in front of the Cambridge Savings Bank. The section of street now in front of the bank is depicted as a walkway.

The MBTA has already begun the initial stages of the $500 million extension project. During construction, passengers will use temporary stations in front of the bank and on Boylston St. near the new Kennedy School building.

The Boylston St. entrance should be completed later this year, according to the MBTA. The other temporary station should be finished shortly after.

Harvard will allow the MBTA station to occupy the area next to the Kennedy School for four years. The construction is scheduled to finish by the fall of 1982, Myra Dixon, an MBTA information secretary, said yesterday.

Early MBTA plans called for the removal of the kiosk, replacing it with trees and a new entrance. Plans were later changed to have the Kiosk remain as a newsstand.

If the MBTA chooses to preserve the kiosk, it may take advantage of recently enacted tax incentives designed to encourage the upkeep and safety of historic places. Crimson Bob Sacks