GO SOUTH, YOUNG MAN

While the idea of undergraduate housing began the year as the most tentative of the Allston tenets, it has emerged as the eventual anchor of the campus.

It was described as the most speculative idea both in the July presentation and in Summers’ October letter.

Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby declined to discuss the proposal in his October letter to the Faculty about Allston “because the possibility of undergraduate housing in Allston is in the rather more distant future,” he wrote in an October e-mail. And Summers said new undergraduate housing would not be constructed in the next decade.

But the possibility of Houses in Allston seems nearly certain now that the task force charged with considering undergraduate life across the river has concluded that having a “critical mass” of at least 25 percent of undergraduates in Allston is “crucial” to creating a thriving campus.

The group’s vision would make Allston an extension of the College’s historic Cambridge acreage rather than a distinct second campus by moving Quad residents across the river.

The committee also found that situating those Houses across the river is “essential,” even though it would probably displace some of the athletics facilities near the Charles.

Both University Provost Steven E. Hyman and Summers said they were gratified that the faculty had embraced the undergraduate housing plan.

“The task force got very excited about the idea,” Hyman said. “Undergraduates kind of give life to everything, and people saw the mutual benefit and the notion of students being closer to each other along the river and being potentially closer to new educational facilities.”

Undergraduate Council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05, who served on the committee, said he opposed housing undergraduates in three separate areas.

“Any plan that leaves undergraduates at the Quad and puts others in Allston is unacceptable,” he said.

He added that although he is “skeptical of any plan to put Houses in Allston,” the plan could improve the current housing structure—provided that the University demonstrates “a very serious commitment to undergraduate life.”

The estimated costs for the proposed scenarios range from $173 million for three Allston Houses to $462 million for eight. The report also lists strengths of some options—like ameliorating residential overcrowding in Cambridge and accommodating potential growth of the College—and points out pitfalls of others, such as transportation issues and negative effects on Quad alums.

The University has not begun to discuss its housing plans with Allston neighbors and officials, according to Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Alan J. Stone.

He added that the Harvard’s community relations team will face a challenge in making Houses palatable to Allston residents. Both Quad and River neighbors have complained about the noisy disruption caused by the presence of undergraduates.