A decade ago, a residents' group called the Harvard Square Defense Fund began a series of legal challenges to the development of the property at One Brattle Square.

Leaders of the defense fund felt the six-story, 76-foot tall building planned for One Brattle, which now houses the HMV music store, would be simply too big for its surroundings.

Fund President G. Pebble Gifford predicted the project would be an "eyesore" and worried that the building was more likely to house large chain shops than the mom-and-pop stores that gave the Square its traditional character.

The fund's strategy in defeating the project had been successful in the past. They would file lawsuits, fight zoning changes and threaten all forms of legal action until the developer relented.

This time, however, the strategy backfired. Despite the costs imposed by fighting the defense fund, developers persevered until a court struck down the zoning appeal and awarded them the right to build.

Legal fees, however, drove up the price of the project, according to those familiar with the dispute. When it came time to lease the new property, the developer had little choice but to turn the site over to a major chain, HMV, because no sole proprietor store could afford to cover the costs.

"A lot of people on the Defense Fund don't know anything about simple economics like supply and demand," charges Tod Beaty, president of the Harvard Square Business Association. "Their plan for a mom-and-pop flavor actually backfired on them."

Gifford, however, says she doesn't see it that way. She says it was important for the fund to fight the project because city officials wouldn't ask tough questions about its impact. The financial difficulties of the developer had to do with the declining real estate market in 1991, not the legal costs, she says.

"They'd love to say that we caused the problem, but the fact is, the real estate business went bust at that time," Gifford says.

For 15 years, Gifford and the fund have been synonymous with efforts to preserve Harvard Square as a few small, historic, and unique blocks of greater Boston. In this view, mom-and-pop stores should be the Square's lifeblood; fast-food franchises are the enemy.

But as the fund's legal losses mount, it is becoming clear that Gifford's preservationist vision does not square with economic reality. The area is, in some sense, a victim of its historic success. With merchants clamoring for space here, rents are now among the highest in the state--so high that small, owner-operated stores can no longer afford them.

Since the One Brattle development became reality three years ago, various chains have made inroads into the Square, and historic institutions like Elsie's sandwich shop, a 30-year fixture, have quietly gone out of business. Harvard Square has become, in some ways, more like an open-air mall than a quaint shopping district, and that worries traditionalists.

"Harvard Square is a unique place that is world-recognized as a center for thinking, creativity and diversity," says Frank S. Kramer, owner of the Harvard Bookstore. "So if Harvard Square were to be filled with the same stores that you would see in a mall, it would be the very opposite of what it stands for."

Even Gifford and other defense fund members acknowledge that their influence has waned. Change in the Square is inevitable, Gifford concedes, and the defense fund has subtly lowered its horizons.

"We must be realistic: pressures on the Square will continue and change is inevitable," Gifford wrote in a recent letter to defense fund members, which was obtained by The Crimson. "Our goal is not to stop development but to provide assurance that new development does not jeopardize the viability of the Square."

Efforts to preserve the Square's historical look are almost as old as the area itself.