For more than half a century, President A. Lawrence Lowell's vision of the House system as a set of self-contained social, residential and intellectual communities has governed student life at Harvard. While other schools built large centralized student activities centers and specialized minority centers, the College stubbornly resisted.

But after a steady groundswell of student complaints about campus polarization and the increased commercialization of the Square, College administrators have committed to a massive project to bolster community life on campus.

They plan to transform the basement of Memorial Hall into a large student center called the Loker Commons, which will feature a coffee house, a pizzeria, activity rooms and meeting rooms. The project was conceived in response to student complaints about a dearth of recreational space.

The renovation is partially funded by a $7 million gift from Katherine Bogdonovich Loker, widow of Donald P. Loker '25, and the daughter of Star-Kist Foods founder Martin Bogdonovich.

The commons will be located underneath a new first-year dining hall, which will relocate from its present location at the Harvard Union to what is now Alumni Hall. It will provide a place for students to gather and relax between classes and sections, according to Philip J. Parsons, director of planning and senior development officer in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

"I am so excited about this," he says. "This is huge--I must have two feet of files on it."

He emphasized the perception that Memorial Hall is "an underused building at the heart of the campus," and pointed out that the new center would be convenient for the great number of students attending classes in the Science Center and Sanders Theatre.

The commons will surround a central "street," with eating areas lining both sides and a court of booths and activity rooms at the end, beneath Sanders Theatre.

Student input prompted the redrawing of plans for the commons made by the Philadelphia-based architectural firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates.

The Memorial Hall Planning Committee report, formulated by students, faculty and administrators, provides detailed specifications about the structure of the commons as well as the desired ambience.

Program requests for the pizzeria specify that it should "avoid an institutional feeling as much as possible," while the coffeehouse "should feel like a 'smoke-filled room' (but smoke free!)." They also suggest a place to "read a paper with a cup of coffee," "a space for people-watching" and a "lounge area/hang-out space."

A campus bar that would admit minors is also under consideration for the commons. However, according to the report, such a facility might only serve beer and wine.

Loker Commons area draft plans also show space for up to three booths for services which could include a newsstand, a sweet shop, a florist, a ticket office, a fax machine, e-mail terminals or short-term facilities for student-run activities.

Students recommended that the Loker Commons contain two separate eateries, as opposed to the single large open area which was originally proposed.

Students also pushed for the option either to term-bill their food purchases or use meal plan credits to pay in the commons eateries rather than relying on cash. When the new electronic identification cards are introduced, students may be able to use them as college "credit cards" at the commons.