Allston 2.0

Five years ago, administrators at Harvard envisioned giving Harvard Square a sister.

The younger sibling would be located across the river, slightly smaller but brimming with all of the vivacity of her elder sibling. She was called Barry’s Corner—a proposed hub of commercial and academic activity at the intersection of Western Ave. and North Harvard Street.

Barry’s Corner would enhance the $1 billion, state-of-the-art Science Center a few blocks away, serving as a community nexus for the extension of Harvard’s academic venture across the Charles River.

But that vision never came to pass.

Instead, the plan for Barry’s Corner—like hot breakfast, faculty hiring, and the Allston Science Complex itself—was a victim of the 2008 financial crisis, and today, Harvard Square’s would-be little sister remains a relatively quiet and inconspicuous intersection.

But if plans do not fall through a second time, it will not stay that way much longer.

In December 2011, Harvard officially resumed planning for Allston. Since then, the University has embarked on an open process that will guide Harvard in achieving its vision.

Though the University has promised transparency, not all Allston residents are convinced that Harvard is disclosing enough information. And some ultimately doubt that the University can successfully integrate community and institutional interests.

NEW VISION

Harvard has considered creating a second campus in Allston for more than a decade.

This dream culminated in 2007 when the University released its Institutional Master Plan for Allston. Projecting 30 to 50 years into the future, the document envisioned the creation of a “main street” along Western Ave. and construction of the Allston Science Complex, comprised of laboratories and classroom spaces especially designed for stem cell research.

These projects, however, were halted in late 2009 after the financial crisis dealt a heavy blow to the University endowment.

As Harvard looks to move forward in Allston, some elements of the old plan have remained intact, such as the creation of a bustling hub at Barry’s Corner and a strong academic environment across the river.

“Our goal is that this would be one Harvard and that people will view Allston as part of the campus, just the way Harvard Yard is,” said University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76. “We don’t want people to think of Allston as a distant outpost.”

But the specifics of development are still in flux and could differ significantly from the vision proposed five years ago.

“The crisis, as difficult as it was, provided us an opportunity to pause once we had the foundation finished and to rethink the planning,” said Harvard Executive Vice President Katie N. Lapp. “The [Innovation Lab] was something that came out of that self-reflection—that was never something that was in anybody’s plan, and it’s a huge success.”

What kind of science facility the University will construct in place of the Allston Science Complex remains unclear. Previously slated to consolidate stem cell laboratories from around the city, the building could now house a wide range of academic disciplines, from bioengineering to public health, according to administrators.

“There are lots of ideas that could be or are being discussed,” said G. Timothy Bowman, executive dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “I can say certainly from a SEAS perspective no decisions have been made.”

Even stem cell laboratories are not completely off the table, although many faculty in the Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology department have said they do not feel the need to move given the recent renovation of the Sherman Fairchild building, which exclusively houses SCRB.

The University also plans to actively recruit businesses and companies that complement the disciplines that move across the Charles River—a strategy known as co-development.

Fostering community across the River, Harvard administrators said, is as important as establishing an academic presence there.

“Allston’s growing academic community will both benefit from and contribute to the neighborhood, promoting activity in the area and attracting new businesses and industries to Allston and Greater Boston,” Garber said.

NEW PROCESS

Harvard has resumed planning in what administrators have touted as a “revolutionary” open process, in which Harvard actively solicits feedback from the Allston community on their hopes and concerns regarding development.

This is a departure from Harvard’s last go at development, during which the University did not regularly engage Allston residents in open dialogue. Since January, University officials have presented ideas and solicited feedback from the Harvard-Allston Task Force—a group of Allston residents representing the community—at biweekly meetings.

Residents have played an active role in helping to establish criteria for the selection of a third-party real-estate development partner for the Barry’s Corner Retail and Housing Commons. Additionally, two Task Force members are serving on the University’s internal selection committee for that development partner.

“Barry’s Corner is an example of unique transparency,” said Kevin Casey, Harvard vice president for communications and public affairs. “We’ve never before included community members in an internal selection process.”

Yet despite the University’s celebration of this open process, many Allston residents have expressed doubt over whether Harvard is as receptive to public opinion as administrators suggest.

“Not that much has happened in the public eye, but I have a sense that a great deal is happening outside of the sight of the community,” said Task Force member Brent C. Whelan ’73. “The plan reflects 100 percent of what people on the inside of Harvard see as advantageous, what they would feel is best for the University. Resident input makes up about zero percent.”

“They know what we’re thinking, but we don’t know what they’re thinking,” said Task Force Chair Ray V. Mellone.

OLD COMPLAINTS

Though Harvard has made some tangible progress in Allston since halting construction in 2009, the University’s ambiguous plans and time frame have been of major concern to residents in the past several months.

According to Casey, Harvard has recruited 19 new businesses to its space in Allston that have generated more than 380 new jobs. In addition, he pointed to the Education Portal and Innovation Lab as examples of new facilities that are mutually beneficial to Harvard and the Allston community.

Despite these indicators of progress, many Allston residents are not satisfied with the pace of development.

Whelan acknowledged the spate of new businesses Harvard has recruited to occupy its Allston holdings but said that those efforts have done little to help bring about Harvard’s grander vision.

“The businesses Harvard has brought have been relatively inconsequential,” Whelan said. “I would not say Western Ave. has become a lively hub.”

Some have raised questions about the site on which the Charlesview Apartment Complex currently sits. The University acquired the land in 2007 in exchange for a slightly larger plot nearby, but Harvard has not outlined distinct plans for the site further than designating it as land for “institutional use.”

“Regardless of what the use, the site will be part of a mix that will serve to enliven the area,” Casey said, reiterating a sentiment he has expressed at Task Force meetings many times in the past few months.

Nevertheless, Allston residents are uncomfortable with the ambiguity of the University’s designs.

“I think there’s a lot of disappointment in Allston that so little progress has been made, especially regarding Barry’s Corner and planning for the Charlesview site,” said Task Force member Harry E. Mattison.

Mattison and other residents pointed to the paused Science Complex—which has remained an exposed concrete foundation for more than two years—as an example of Harvard’s lack of significant progress.

“I think there have been a lot of nice, small steps in the right direction which are good, but at the same time are overshadowed by the uncertainty that surrounds the major developments,” Mattison added.

Administrators do not deny that progress is slow.

“We’re taking some strong steps forward, but much of the tangible manifestations in actual physical development is yet to occur,” Casey said. “Selection of the real estate partner on Barry’s Corner will be an important first step.”

In addition to selecting a developer in June, the University is expected to submit a draft of a new Institutional Master Plan to the Boston Redevelopment Authority by October.

Some community members remain optimistic about Harvard’s efforts to engage the community. John Cusack, one of two Task Force members sitting on the University’s committee for selecting a developer for Barry’s Corner, said he understands the concerns of his neighbors but trusts Harvard’s slower pace.

“To me, this is a starting point, and because of its importance, there was a certain amount of time it had to take,” he said. “I don’t want to make it sound like I was remotely happy with the wait, but the fact is, this is clearly a newly-defined approach which I hope will have positive implications for the community.”

Administrators hope that the University’s continued progress will eventually allay community concerns about development.

“Harvard Yard was not built in a day but evolved over 375 years. There were high-level guidelines established that shaped building over time,” Lapp said. “We are looking to do the same thing with the Master Plan in Allston.”

—Staff writer Mercer R. Cook can be reached at mcook@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Radhika Jain can be reached at radhikajain@college.harvard.edu.