The University offered to improve the Corporal Burns playground to the tune of $200,000 yesterday, but local residents were up in arms at the first whisper that the City might sell outright the acre-and-a-half area to Harvard.

About 40 parents and children showed up at City Hall to protest the possible sale of the land, which is adjacent to the Married Student Housing. Some of the children carried signs.

"Mommy and Daddy Think I'm Worth More Than the $1,000,000 That Harvard Wants to Give For My Play Area," one poster read.

Charles P. Whitlock, assistant to the president for civic affairs, told a special City Council subcommittee that the University would build a small field house on the playground to replace the structure now there, and also pay fees to a landscape architect to redesign the area.

He asked the city, however, to do the actual landscaping, a job that would cost an estimated $60,000 if done privately, Whitlock put the total cost of the field house and the architect's fee at $200,000.

Although Harvard would "always" be willing to purchase the land, Whitlock said the "University stands ready to do the best thing in the interests of the city."

In response to a question from one resident, Whitlock said if the University did acquire the land, it was "as good a bet as any" that a high-rise apartment would eventually appear there.

But, he emphasized, Harvard would maintain the play area until the city replaced it with another playground in the neighborhood.