Harvard To Help Allston Improve

Harvard will bankroll $1.2 million in landscape improvement and business development for North Allston as it shores up support for its plans to establish a campus there, University President Lawrence H. Summers and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced Friday.

Menino also announced the final draft of jointly developed recommendations for an Allston plan balanced between city and University interests.

Menino and Summers unveiled the move at a former Blockbuster building on Western Ave. in Allston where Harvard funds will establish a career and business resource center. The center plans to help residents find job openings and training via a career counselor and a library of resources.

The leaders also announced on Friday that Harvard will finance improvements for several Allston locales and a program to help relocate businesses uprooted by the University’s development.

Several months ago, the mayor requested that Harvard take steps to ease the transition for Allston residents, according to Director of Community Relations Kevin McCluskey ’76. He said plans for the career and business center arose from city priorities.

“We’re working with a terrific mayor who cares very deeply about every neighborhood in the city and understands that there are some very real benefits that can come from Harvard’s growth for everyone involved,” McCluskey said.

In a press release, Summers called the funding an “initial step” in bolstering the partnership among Harvard, the city government, and the Allston community.

“It is important to the University that we continue to work with the city and the neighborhood to meet the needs of both a livable community and of a world-class teaching and research institution,” Summers said.

Paul Berkeley, president of the Allston Civic Association—a neighborhood organization that promotes residents’ interests—said the announcements show Harvard’s eagerness to anticipate possible problems for businesses and residents in the neighborhood. Berkeley said he hopes that a forward-looking approach will characterize the University’s future efforts.

Ray Mellone, chair of the North Allston Community Task Force—composed of representatives from Harvard, the city government and the Allston community—called Friday’s announcement “a gift for Christmas.”

His community task force reached a final draft phase of its four-year Strategic Framework for Planning, a neighborhood blueprint put together in concert with Harvard and the city that will eventually be submitted to the community and zoning board.

This community blueprint is important because Harvard will incorporate its recommendations into an Institutional Master Plan for Allston development. Mellone says such a close collaboration with the city is rare for University planning.

The University has “come a light year away from where [it] used to be” in its relationship with the community, Mellone said.

The community’s recommendations are all approximate—since the details of Harvard construction in Allston are still vague—but Mellone said he hopes the University’s development will fit within the framework the task force has offered.

Berkeley said the draft announced on Friday turns the tables on the traditional relationship between Harvard and greater Boston.

“We’ve created something that Harvard has to react to,” he said of the strategic framework.

In a press release, the mayor said Harvard’s early funding illustrates its dedication to the community’s vision.

“Today’s announcement is proof that this plan is the foundation for great things to come for this community,” Menino said.

Berkeley said he hopes Harvard next targets the “streetscape” for improvement. The chain-link fences that populate the gateway into Allston do not fit Harvard’s look, he said, and the University has an opportunity to improve the appearance of the neighborhood.

Berkeley said he thinks that with the University’s resources and its apparent commitment to working with the community, such a goal would not be out of reach.

McCluskey said he perceives city support to be “absolutely critical” for the success of Harvard’s Allston ambitions.

“What we’ve seen a sign of here is that they’re willing to work with the mayor on his priorities,” Berkeley said. “It’s not just going to be my neighborhood, it’s going to be theirs. [If] they look at it from that perspective, we all win.”

—Staff writer Nicholas M. Ciarelli can be reached at ciarelli@fas.harvard.edu.