Word: mem
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Much of the alumni attachment stems from Mem Hall's first 50 years (1874-1924) when it served as a central eating place at Harvard. One University official recalls an uncle (class of '95) who, up until a few years ago, annually had a reunion with his Mem Hall eating partners. "I suspect," says another official, "that if we announced the demolition of Mem Hall, we'd have a battle royal. Half the alumni would be on one side of the street asking us to tear it down and the other half would be yelling to keep...
...Mem Hall is in an untenable geographical position. It rests at the hub of what is, in essence, an entirely new part of the Harvard campus. In the foreseeable future, it will be virtually surrounded by newer, more modern, buildings. Already William James sits at one corner of the Mem Hall triangle, and all along the other sides, more buildings will be constructed by the end of the decade...
...these the only changes that will affect Mem Hall; the whole character of its site will be altered when the University builds its $2.8 million underpass beneath Cambridge St. No longer will Mem Hall be a large island between two segments of the Harvard campus. Instead, with part of Kirkland St. closed off and with the roof of the underpass carefully landscaped, there will be a continous mall from the Yard to the fringe of the Law School. It is even possible that either the International Studies Center will extend over the closed-off part of Kirkland St. onto...
Once this process begins, the logic of the situation will take over. The Mem Hall land will become increasingly valuable to the University. The construction of new buildings will make it logical and convenient for other buildings to be located in the area. Lowell Lecture Hall and the Harvard-owned house next to it will probably be consolidated into a site for a larger building. And after that, Mem Hall will be the only land left for expansion...
Moreover, for esthetic reasons, Mem Hall will grow obsolete. Now it is an isolated building on an isolated plot, but as development proceeds, something will be needed to unite the buildings, not separate them as Mem Hall would do. In short, it will become expendable because its utility--both practical and esthetic--will not approach the value of its real estate...