Restaurants, Offices in Former Holyoke Center Face Uncertain Future

Restaurant owners in the former Holyoke Center said the University gave them little notice of its plans to overhaul the building at the center of the Square, but said they still hope to be part of the site’s future after part of the building becomes a new campus center.

After securing a large donation from an alumnus, the University announced on Thursday it was changing the building’s name to the Smith Center, and would renovate the bottom three floors of the building for student use.

Barry F. Penn, a partner at Al’s Harvard Square Cafe, said a representative from Harvard informed him of the plan on Wednesday—the day before the public announcement.

“No substantive [information] has been provided [to us] because it is my understanding that this project is in the preliminary planning stage,” he wrote in an email to The Crimson.

“It did come as a surprise to me,” said Steve Welch, an operating owner of Oggi Gourmet. “I didn’t know that they were going to change the name until just before it happened.”

Both Welch and Penn expressed their support for the project, yet they remain unsure whether their respective eateries will figure in the new Smith Campus Center. In addition to Oggi Gourmet and Al’s, the first floor of the Smith Campus Center currently houses a Harvard-affiliated pharmacy, tour center, and box office.

A number of the offices of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are located on the third floor. The second floor is separate from the main structure of the center and was formerly occupied by Cambridge Trust Company offices, some of which have been relocated to Boston.

University spokesperson Lauren M. Marshall wrote in an email Monday that it was too early to say how the renovations would affect tenants.

“There will be a process to gather ideas from students, faculty, and staff to guide the development of spaces that will support everything from informal gatherings to official events,” she said. Marshall also said it is not clear yet how the former Cambridge Trust office space would figure in the plan.

Restaurant owners said they were cautiously optimistic Harvard would still find a place for them in the renovated building.

“I really appreciate the need for a viable student campus center and applaud Harvard's decision to move ahead on this much needed project,” wrote Penn. “Needless to say, we are concerned about the future of Al's in our present location.”

Whereas GSAS personnel were involved in the “planning process for the announcement,” according to Marshall, the Holyoke Center business owners said they were not.

If given the option, the owners of both the sandwich shop and the pizzeria said they hope their businesses will feature in the plans for the student center. Al’s opened in March 2011, and Oggi Gourmet has been a staple in the Holyoke Arcade for even longer.

“In the last seven years, I’ve been the longest one in there,” said Welch. “So what I’d love to see them do is just integrate us more into student activities and make our business better and help it grow.”

Welch said he believes that representatives from Harvard will be speaking with the Holyoke Center business owners to hear their visions for the new center. Penn said he hopes that Harvard will be willing to work with the restaurants so they can remain in business, especially during the potentially disruptive construction period.

“I’m excited, I’m curious, I’m nervous,” said Welch. “As a business owner, when you see this magnitude of change, you want to be a part of it.”

Marshall, the University spokesperson, did not comment on where the GSAS offices would be relocated when renovation begins in 2016, but said that the school’s officials “will continue to be embedded in the process as it advances.”

—Staff writer Nikki D. Erlick can be reached at nikki.erlick@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @nikkierlick.

—Staff writer Steven R. Watros can be reached at steven.watros@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveWatros.