The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study has recently reconfirmed that within five years it will reclaim Byerly Hall and the Rieman Center—forcing the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid and student dance troupes to find new homes.

Student theater groups, however, will be allowed to continue using a refurbished Agassiz Theatre—averting exacerbating the shortage of on-campus theater space.

As a result of Radcliffe’s decision, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is beginning to plan for the relocation of admissions office and the roughly 600 students who are involved in dance.

Radcliffe plans to use the space to house the offices for their newly reinvigorated fellows program.

The impending displacement stems from the October 1999 merger agreement between Harvard and Radcliffe.

The agreement guaranteed that buildings owned by Radcliffe College would be “assigned to the benefit of Radcliffe Institute,” but added that Harvard could retain occupancy of Byerly Hall and the Rieman Center until 2005 and 2006, respectively.

Although Radcliffe’s decision to invoke its right to reclaim the property does not come as a surprise, Faculty officials said finding suitable space for the displaced organizations remains a daunting task.

FAS spokesperson Robert Mitchell said that administrators are working toward acquiring adequate locations for both the admissions office and student dance organizations. However, he declined to comment on specific locations under consideration.

FAS Associate Dean for Physical Resources David A. Zewinski ’76, who is primarily responsible for finding new locations, declined to comment yesterday.

While both Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis ’70-’73 and Office for the Arts Director (OFA) Jack Megan said they are confident that adequate space can be found, they acknowledge it will not be an easy task.

“We don’t know what the plan is,” McGrath Lewis said. “I am quite sure that there is not a plan yet. We are on a list of question marks.”

McGrath Lewis said her office has presented FAS with a number of considerations in finding a potential space.

“Attractiveness, pleasantness and agreeableness are all considerations,” she said. “We are in the business of recruiting the best in the world, and we need to put our best foot forward.”

McGrath Lewis said Hemenway Gymnasium, which was considered as a potential relocation site before Byerly Hall’s lease was extended by Radcliffe in 2000, may again be a possibility.

“[Hemenway Gymnasium] could be made very agreeable, but I don’t know if it’s still on the list,” she said.