A parking garage need not be an unsightly concrete lump, Clapp emphasized. At relatively little extra cost, he said, a veneer can be affixed to the building which will give it character and beauty. He estimated the cost of such a garage at anywhere from $2,500 to $3,000 per car space. A garage above the car barn would be roughly $200 more per space because of the suspension problem, Clapp added.
Funds are sparse at City Hall for construction of any parking facilities around the Square, and no one there is looking very hard to find any. Martin, in his campaign platform, advocates seeking federal funds to build a bomb shelter under the Cambridge Common. Once safely nestled near the bowels of Radcliffe's downtown campus, Martin would then slyly convert the shelter into a parking garage.
The New Haven city fathers last year also contemplated going underground in order to cope with Yale. A parking garage was contemplated under the New Haven Green, but was abandoned when it was discovered that the Green is an old burying ground and that the city didn't own the Green anyway.
A Definite Luxury
The University, although it has on several occasions discussed garage construction with its architects, does not have any plans for undertaking the project, according to Pyne. Funds are lacking and Harvard feels that parking is essentially the student's individual problem, he added. Undergraduates and parents are reminded each summer in a University letter that cars are a definite luxury, except in a few special cases, and that the University feels no more responsible for providing parking facilities than for greasing transmission.
Pyne noted that all available space on University property is being utilized to alleviate the situation, but such space is, of course, severely limited. No restrictions, however, are envisaged on undergraduates' privileges of bringing their cars to Cambridge, he said.
Councilman Morton claims that enforcement arrangements include letting Harvard and city police walk the streets, arm in arm, ticketing student and local cars alike, giving no quarter, asking none. University police will tag cars illegally parked on University property or obstructing University facilities while the Cambridge police will happly tag anyone. Morton admits that this is a somewhat sporadic arrangement.
A realistic solution to traffic problems must, Morton added, take into account all the factors and plan accordingly. He urges revising the all-night parking ban to permit parking on streets which are wide enough to hold parked cars in addition to moving traffic.
A multiple story garage on the Brattle Square lot and utilization of all other available space in the area would also brighten the picture, while a 1500-2000 car garage over the MTA car barn would be a major step toward a long-range solution, Morton said.
If used for student parking, a garage would pay for itself in anywhere from 40 to 60 years, depending on charges. Normal amortization rate is 20 years, which would make any private investor reluctant at best to build the facility. The University can, however, be assured of continuous use of a garage and thus of definite, if slow repayment of any initial outlay.
With the anticipated increase in the number of cars, any but large and accessible facilities would be only only temporary and inadequate stopgaps. Even if the city allows overnight parking in some areas, the streets around the University, among the narrowest in the city, cannot safely hold their present load, much less any increase.
But today, tomorrow and next week, cars are parked, traffic is crawling, streets are jammed, authorities are lethargic, students are indifferent and the problems multiply