"It's very hard for Harvard to use that argument," says Elizabeth L. Randall, FAS' capital projects manager.

Randall--who now heads the University Hall renovation project--says the other major challenge facing Harvard is bringing buildings into compliance while maintaining their historical integrity.

Several of Harvard's historical landmarks and cannot be changed without approval from the Cambridge Historic Commission. All Yard buildings except for the relatively new Canaday Hall, for example, are protected.

Among other things, ADA and MAAB codes dictate that doors must be wide enough for wheelchairs, in addition to detailing things like the height of bathroom urinals and the positioning of hand railings. They also mandate that people with disabilities be able to use the primary entrance to a building and be able to access all its floors.

But concerns for preserving the historical value of certain buildings have made these changes impossible in some cases.

When the University made Harvard Hall accessible this summer, it applied for a variance to the primary entrance rule and asked to make the back entrance accessible rather than the front one.

"To put a ramp onto that building, it would have started somewhere down on Mass. [Avenue]," Zewinski says.

Similarly, the University will seek a variance from the MAAB for its renovation of University Hall this summer. Making the building's elevator reach the top floor would require cutting through the historic Faculty meeting room and breaking the original roof line--a move the Cambridge Historical Commission strongly opposes.