Activists Give Reluctant Blessing to Square Complex

A $25 million commercial complex on JFK St. officially opened last Friday after more than four years of planning and work--and more than a little protest from Cambridge preservationists.

But in the end, modifications aimed at preserving the aesthetics of Winthrop Square led the activists to concede reluctantly.

G. Pebble Gifford, president of the Harvard Square Defense Fund, has been one of the sharpest critics of the building, but at the end of the months-long process, she said she was satisfied with the outcome.

She told The Boston Globe that she was ultimately grateful to developer Peter Palandjian for improving the quality of the Square.

"The reason is, he restored those two buildings beautifully at great expense, and they do look nice on the park," she said.

Palandjian bought the Armenian Church that formerly inhabited the site and relocated it to Belmont. He then submitted proposed designs for the block to the city. After months of negotiations with preservationists, who tend to scrutinize any new construction in the Square, Palandjian struck a deal.

In order to preserve the green oasis of Winthrop Square, he agreed to build the complex next to Grendel's Den less obtrusively, insetting the building's foundation away from the small park.

Such accommodations are often spurred by city regulations, which tightly govern any new construction in designated historical areas.

The construction of the building housing Abercrombie and Fitch, Pacific Sunwear and Finagle-a-Bagel on the block bordering the center of the Square had similar stipulations, including one that the

facade of the building be preserved.

Cambridge civic observer Glenn S. Koocher '71 said that the same regulations applied in the case of Palandjian's property but were less strict because the original building had only been on the site for 50 years.

Koocher said that the key for developers who want success in obtaining building permits in the Square is to befriend activists like Gifford.

"I suspect that deep underneath some of this, well-connected developers and people who are connected to the politically correct element in the Square are more successful than others," Koocher said.

"If you can assuage the Pebble Giffords of the community, some of your development issues and problems can go away. People seem to think they need to assuage people like her," he said.

Gifford, who did not return calls for comment last night, told The Globe that she was not happy with the appearance of the building but said that Paladjian had been easy to compromise with and ultimately the project turned out for the best.