The battle to build a new dorm

The University and the City of Somerville are renewing their efforts to break a stand-off over the construction of a new campus residence, Sophia Gordon Hall.

The dorm has been approved by the Board of Trustees and the necessary $13 million has been raised, but nearly a year after the ground-breaking ceremony, not one brick has been laid.

In order to build, Tufts will have to obtain the approval of the Somerville Historical Preservation Commission (SHPC), which must sign off on any demolition of historic property. The school and the SHPC have been meeting periodically over the past year, but have reached an impasse.

The problems stem from the location of the building, which would require the demolition of three properties on Talbot Avenue and Professor's Row.

The SHPC specifically objected to the removal of 20 Professor's Row, the oldest wood-frame building on campus and the home of Tufts' first president, Hosea Ballou.

Next month, officials from new Somerville mayor Joe Curtatone's administration will try to break the deadlock by sitting down directly with the University.

The mayor does not have authority over the SHPC -- an independent body -- but according to Curtatone representative Mark Horan, the mayor does exert influence.

The discussions will address not only the new dorm, but a range of issues that have developed between the town and school.

On the campaign trail, Curtatone said the University should do more financially for the community.

Horan said noise complaints and increased police patrols in parts of the town that border campus would also be addressed during the meeting.

The talks were proposed after President Larry Bacow and Curtatone had a meeting in January.

"I think it makes sense to deal with all of these issues at once," Horan said.

Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel was reluctant to make predictions on results from the upcoming discussions.

While Rubel praised the city's historical preservation staff, she described their efforts as "narrowly focused."

"We have neighborhood issues, open space issues, and campus planning issues -- among others -- that we also have to take into account," Rubel said.

The University does have some support with one Somerville official, though. Ward Six Alderman Jack Connolly supports the University's viewpoint on the demolition of 20 Professor's Row. "I don't particularly consider it historical," Connolly said. "From my perspective, the [new] building is allowed as a matter of right to the University."

How the dorm was able to reach this stage -- fully funded and designed but unable to be built -- stems from poor communication between city departments and school officials.

According to Rubel, the school believed the situation was covered under previous agreements the University made with the city in the late 1980s.

The city had set up an overlay district -- a specialized zoning area -- which dictates development around the University.

Matters changed in May when the Historical Preservation Board informed the University in a letter that there would also be a necessary historical review process.

SHPC Chairman Michael Payne said the board first heard of the demolition review when plans were being circulated around City Hall. "We then notified Tufts of our concern and started a series of meetings and discussions to discuss what kinds of things could be done," he said.

Discussions between the University and the committee began last summer, and focused on two possible alternatives to the destruction of 20 Professors Row.

The first solution was an alternate, smaller design for the dorm that would not extend all the way to Professors Row.

In response, the University has already worked with the firm that originally designed the dorm, Graham Gund Architects, on "several alternative concepts," Vice President of Operations John Roberto said.

He said the firm did just enough to determine that the alternatives presented new problems and did not adequately address the city's concern.

Another option is to relocate the 20 Professors Row building to another spot on the street. This would not be the house's first move -- when President Ballou lived on the site it was located near the present Gifford House. It was moved to its current location in the early 1870s.

Payne, however, called the relocation plan a "less desirable alternative," but said it might be acceptable as long as the building "stays part of the streetscape" on Professor's Row.

University officials have been pushing for demolition rather than finding space on the already tight Professors Row area.

The school has yet to formally apply for the review under the demolition ordinance, but Payne said a similar set of talks would occur when that happens.

Payne said the informal discussions where alternatives were explored have concluded, and it is now up to the school to debate their options, and that he has not heard back from the school since.

Although the school has explored these other options, that does not mean it has resigned itself to the changes. "Tufts would like to build the dorm as it was designed," Rubel said. "Considerable planning and thought about a range of issues went into the site selection and design."

The University's last long-term land-use plan, which was designed to cover the years 1985-1995 but is still in effect, shows a tentative footprint for a building similar to that of Gordon Hall site.

The school has considered other locations for the dorm, including next to Hill Hall and behind Metcalf Hall before settling on the current site.

The school never did have a truly explicit agreement about preservation. Rubel said that while the issue was discussed in the late 1980s, "it wasn't separately formalized."

Rubel said the school believed that because of the agreements made at that time, the school had a level of "dimensional freedom" in that area.

Students were frustrated by a process they saw as imposing unnecessary delays on a residential hall needed to ease a housing crunch. They saw no easy answers to the problem, however.

Senior Jill Bier gave a presentation at February's trustee meeting on improving city-school relations. She said the delays exposed a fundamental problem. "We need to live somewhere, if not on campus, where are we living?" she said.

Finding a common solution may not be simple, but both sides were confident they could find some sort of middle ground.

During the 1988 survey of Professor's Row, 11 buildings were identified as historic. "It's hard to talk about Professor's Row in terms of houses," Payne said. "Each of the buildings are important individually but they are also important as a group."

Successful discussions could also yield future dividends. Officials hope to create a blueprint to follow for future projects, including the construction of a new music building. Plans also call for the destruction of 72, 80 and 128 Professors Row -- the Dearborn House, the Zeta Psi fraternity, and the former building of the Institute for Global Leadership.

Patrick Gordon contributed to this article