"All our good intentions for preservation go somewhat out the window when you work with a construction crew," Rowe says. "These are very delicate materials--things will get broken."

The scale and history of the project means that, before building, Harvard will need approval from the Historic Preservation Review Board, and the Board of Zoning and Adjustment as well as some measure of neighborhood approval.

To halt Harvard's plans, a Web site has been created that includes a petition against the project, which opponents will eventually send to the planning boards.

Votes against Harvard by any of these boards would most likely force a lengthy appeals process and some change of building plans.

However, the one board that Harvard has already presented its plans to, the Advisory Neighborhood Committee, voted unanimously to endorse the proposal.

According to Keenan, most of the people who actually sit down with the plans believe that Harvard is acting conscientiously. But opposition will always remain.

"Even if we get all the licenses and the permits, there will just be some people who think it is too precious a territory to touch at all," Keenan says.