The Cambridge Historical Commission met yesterday to decide the fate of the site of the existing Tasty restaurant, but decided to delay a decision until next month.

The commission considered the Cambridge Savings Bank's proposal to modernize Read Block, the four buildings at the corner of Mass. Ave. and JFK Street which house the Tasty and the former Wursthaus Restaurant.

The public hearing drew more than 150 Cantabrigians to City Hall last night to protest the bank's proposal.

The hearing was one of several meetings the commission has held to discuss whether Read Block can be declared a historical landmark.

Such a move would severely constrain the bank's expansion plans and most likely end the 18-month war between developers and preservationists.

City Councillors Francis H. Duehay '55 and Kathleen L. Born were unhappy with the bank's proposal.

"I appreciate that the new building mimics the existing one, but it leads me to conclude, why don't we just keep the old building the way it is?" Born said.

The bank proposes to demolish two of the four buildings that compose the Read Block and to replace them with small retail and bank offices, according to the project's architect, W. Easley Hammer.

Both the Tasty Grill and the now-defunct Wursthaus would be destroyed, although the bank has offered to rent room in its new building to the 80-year old Tasty.

The bank has scaled back its original plan to replace all four buildings with one shopping complex.

Hammer, who used an elaborate cardboard model to illustrate his plan, insisted that his goals are "preservation and replacement with respect."

"Change is the essence of history," he said. "We must work to define an appropriate balance between our reverence for the past and the requirements for the present."

"Harvard Square is the vital heart of our living city," Hammer continued. "We can't freeze what is on this site; we must breathe new life into it."

Not all those who attended the meeting were pleased with Hammer's demonstration.

"The proponent of a project puts forward his analysis, but the public does not have the resources to present an analysis," said Gladys "Pebble" Gifford, executive director of the Harvard Square Defense Fund.

The meeting began with a slide show presentation on the history of Harvard Square by Charles Sullivan, executive director of the historical commission.

Sullivan said that a site is eligible for landmark designation if it is associated with one or more famous people or events or if it is significant to the broad economic, social or architectural history of the city.

The Read House, constructed in 1780, is the second oldest building in Harvard Square.

It originally housed a general store and a tailor shop that was home to poet Anne Bradstreet. The four buildings were united under a common facade in 1896.

Although the commission members repeatedly stated that the stores inside the building are outside of its jurisdiction, many attendants voiced their concern about the future of the Tasty.

"You can't replace a piece of history like the Tasty," said Talia Baron, a high school senior and co-founder of the Square Liberation Front.

"It's a tough call. We certainly have love for this place, but for every person who loves the Tasty, there are 97 who have never heard of it," said Rob Thiel, an employee at the restaurant.

"The issue is a building which has been for 250 years, 50 years before George Washington lived across the street," Thiel said. "It's like taking Central Park out of Manhattan."

Members of the commission will reconvene on February 6 to reconsider the issue