Harvard May Provide Space For Temporary City Library

Harvard may provide the city of Cambridge with space for a facility to temporarily replace the recently-condemned Observatory Hill branch library, University and city officials said yesterday.

City Councilor Kevin Crane '72 said yesterday he asked Harvard officials for the space, which would become necessary if the city decides to demolish the branch library and build a new one. City inspectors last week condemned the branch, which is located on a storefront on Huron Ave, and owned by the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Boston, saying it was unsafe.

Must Do

The City Council voted Monday to study the possibility of building a new library on the Huron Ave. site.

"We'd like to help them, to make some space available," Michael Brewer, assistant vice president for government and community affairs, said yesterday.

"They didn't slam the door in my face," Crane said.

Crane added that the temporary branch might possibly be located in the University potting studio, which is near the Quad and therefore accessible to Observatory Hill residents.

"We're just looking at options now, we don't have any specific options in mind," Brewer said.

Lamont Lamented

Robin Schmidt, vice president for government and community affairs, said yesterday that opening University libraries to area residents is "not one of the alternatives I've heard discussed."

If Harvard agrees to lend the city the space, it would be in use until the new library is completed. Joseph G. Sakey, director of city libraries, said yesterday that could take between 12 and 18 months.

The branch library has not closed yet, although city officials have placed sawhorses around the front to protect pedestrians from falling bricks.

The Rev. Bernard Herlihy, pastor of St. Peter's parish, which controls the building, told the council Monday that the city had failed to maintain the building. "They were supposed to do repairs under the lease," Herlihy said.

"Things that are major structural problems now could have been averted with routine maintenance," he added.

The city had paid the church $900 a year in rent for the building and collected $970 annaully in property taxes and water charges, Herlihy said.