Harvard - Allston Campus

Notes from last night:

There was a concern that the current site of Charlesview -- center of Barry's Corner -- would become a surface parking lot under Harvard's plan. Kevin (from Harvard) clarified that the parking lot shown as "Permit parking" would only be intended for staging of construction vehicles during assembly of the Science Complex. When asked: will the staging area parking lot still be a parking lot ten years from now? Kevin did not answer this question.

Harvard reiterated their support for street-level retail and the various buzzwords around "activating" the "streetscape" and such. Even "eyes on the street" made an appearance.

Bruce (I think?) questioned whether a basketball venue was really going to bring the vibrancy needed for the corner. "There needs to be people to populate the retail." Is the ultimate plan for the Charliesview site -- an institutional/admin building with mixed uses -- going to be enough, or dead at most hours?

Ray had a nice quote: [paraphrasing] you want a plan with that "magic" which inspires people to come to the site for work, living and shopping, and as for this plan "There ain't no magic in this."

For those wondering about the Ed portal (+annex) it will continue to be a part of Barry's Corner along with the Ceramics expansion.

I think that Kevin said they are anticipating 500 users of the science complex, and 325 dwelling units built across the street from it, as well as the basketball venue.

Brent asked why the IMPNF excludes first-floor retail in the science complex when Harvard had committed to it previously. Also, if the corner was supposed to be a center of culture, where is that? He also would like to know what happened to the commitment to a community center or school before filing the IMPNF.

Brent wanted to know why Harvard claimed to be committed to community-based planning, and something approximating a solid 4-story streetscape for Western Ave, but they have so far only put up a suburban-style 1-story McDonald's on that stretch of their land? He is not so interested in the parts of the IMPNF which are located on the business school campus -- that is their business -- but in seeing the parts which interface with the community come to fruition.

Gerald (BRA) said that many of the benefits were tied to occupancy of the building, not necessarily IMPNF filing. Also, that commitments could be changed, with the community, if conditions change.

Tim said that he is happy that the Harvard Shuttles will pick up A/B residents, but is the Charlesview site going to remain a parking lot for up to 10 years or more? Also, when will Harvard complete the Holton Street corridor?

A lady up front (didn't catch name) asked why Harvard didn't seem to have a long-term vision in their plan.

David (architect) presented a variation on the previous plan for the 6/9 story building. Basically, they take a 63-foot setback from N. Harvard on the 9-story segment, and move it to the back, on top of a shorter area. Net effect: same number of units, 7 stories fronting N Harvard, 9 stories on Smith Field Drive.

Someone asked if they could just cut 25 units which approximates 1 floor, bringing it down a little. But this was given a good response from the finance guys from Samuels: they are holding firm on 325 units for financial viability.

Another long-time resident then spoke and said in many words that I can't reproduce that he felt that Harvard didn't listen to the community, and they should go back to the drawing board.

Kairos gave his personal opinion that if he was doing it, then it would be 5 stories fronting the street and 10-11 stories above that, set-back a bit. Height can be good in the right place. He also said the Mayor wants to see something happen, and that this is not a project that can be approved right now because they don't have enough details. The filing should be seen as a working document.
 
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Matthew said:
Another long-time resident then spoke and said in many words that I can't reproduce that he felt that Harvard didn't listen to the community, and they should go back to the drawing board.
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Ah yes - each precious snowflake should be given veto power over all building. Harvard will be there long after the 'long-time' resident is gone. If there were community meetings back in the day, Harvard Yard would still be an orchard.
 
Does this include the Arsenal Mall and the Arsenal Center for the Arts?
 
Ron Newman said:
Does this include the Arsenal Mall and the Arsenal Center for the Arts?
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No, to the Mall. And I don't know for sure about the Arts.

Tenant list would say yes to the Arts.

http://www.taotc.com/tenantlist.php

Map here:
sitemap.jpg


The Arts is in building 312, not on map above.

Harvard selling 11 buildings.
 
121712barryscorner.jpg


Is that one story retail on the right side? I just hope that rendering is for massing, because if not this is a major disappointment.
 
I believe there's a 'gap' between the buildings which is 1 or 2 stories.
 
Ron Newman said:
Does this include the Arsenal Mall and the Arsenal Center for the Arts?
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I don't believe they own the mall. The parcel you're talking about is called "Arsenal On The Charles". The only unit of Harvard I know of there is the printery for Harvard Business School. You may have seen the shuttles from time to time in Harvard Square. They pickup in front of the Charles Hotel next to the Kennedy School.
 
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/2/6/seas-move-allston-campus/

The Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will relocate “in almost its entirety” to University-owned land in North Allston in as few as five years, University President Drew G. Faust told The Crimson Tuesday.

The same announcement made later that day at the monthly Faculty Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences drew sharp criticism from SEAS professors concerned about upholding an engineering education integrated with the liberal arts.

Construction on SEAS facilities in Allston is slated to begin in 2014 and should be completed near the end of 2017 or early 2018.

The administration has long eyed Allston for an expansion of science facilities and Faust pointed to rapid growth in many areas of the sciences as an opportunity for corresponding physical expansion.

She said that SEAS—“a school that reaches out to other schools”—was also an ideal fit for Allston because of its collaborative nature. Moving across the river, she said, will facilitate connections between SEAS and other Harvard facilities, such as Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and the I-Lab, a center in Allston dedicated to student entrepreneurship.

“We think it can be a kind of generator, a hub, for spokes that will go out and reach to other key nodes of academic pursuit as they are established in Allston,” Faust said.

But SEAS professors expressed concerns at Tuesday’s meeting that moving to Allston would sever other important ties in Cambridge.

University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 first announced the move to the SEAS faculty last Tuesday, professors said at the meeting, and the information was unexpected. The “Allston bomb,” said Robert D. Howe, area dean for bioengineering, generated as much discussion “as if [Garber] had dropped a literal bomb.”

Many SEAS faculty members hold joint appointments with FAS and were worried that moving across the river would compromise SEAS’s interdisciplinary endeavors.

“I believe that should we be transported across the river, our model—our paradigm, really—cannot work,” said Steven C. Wofsy, area dean for environmental science and engineering.

Area dean for computer science Michael D. Mitzenmacher identified this “paradigm” as “an engineering school embedded in a liberal arts education.” Transplanting SEAS to Allston, he said, might discourage professors committed to that core mission.

“How can we maintain engineering being a part of the liberal arts education when we are going to be separated from the rest of the College?” he said.

Faculty members met the announcement with a range of largely “unexcited to hostile” reactions, Mitzenmacher said.

Garber said at the meeting that SEAS’s move represents only the first phase of long-term development in Allston.

“I don’t want to sugarcoat what is going to be a very involved process, but I also don’t want anyone to forget the terrific opportunity ahead,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Faust told The Crimson that while the move might be difficult in the short term, its long-term effects are worth it.

“I think change is always challenging,” she said. “People feel, ‘Oh my gosh, my life has been one way, my life will be another way once this plan goes into effect.’ But we’re excited about it.”

In 2003, the University announced its intention to build a science center and undergraduate housing complex across the Charles River from Cambridge and relocate the School of Public Health and Graduate School of Education to Allston, but the economic crisis in 2008 halted construction.

Last October, Harvard submitted plans for the land to Boston City Hall that were much less ambitious and designed for a 10-year rather than 30 to 50-year time frame.

Though the post-recession science complex design is less expensive than its predecessor, Faust told The Crimson in July that it would be a priority for Harvard’s impending capital campaign.

On Tuesday, she said that continuing financial pressure prevents planning new development too far in advance,

“We want to think about programming in smaller chunks... and really drill down on those opportunities,” Faust said.

—Nicholas P. Fandos contributed to the reporting of this article.
 
It's hilarious how Harvard professors consider Allston basically Nebraska. The same hue and cry went out when the admin wanted to move the law school over a decade ago (to make way for SEAS labs! Ironic.) The law school was either too powerful or the Allston plan too nebulous at that time to make it happen, though.
 
Law School was too powerful. The only Cambridge school originally slated to move was Education, the weakest.

SEAS has about 1,000 students and 100 faculty, and occupies 400,000 sq ft in Cambridge. I don't think SEAS would fit within the four building science complex as other non-SEAS programs are long-supposed to move to the science complex e.g., stem cell.
 
All this complaining would be shut up if Harvard just built their planned subway
 
Didn't know there was any kind of Harvard subway "planned". That'd be fantastic though.

I've worked with SEAS for the last 4 years, and they do some realy interesting things there. Hope this means I'll get to work with them for a bunch more years now.
 
SeamusMcFly said:
Didn't know there was any kind of Harvard subway "planned". That'd be fantastic though.
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Jass is being a bit tongue-in-cheek - there have been proposals, and in fact there's a tunnel off of Harvard Station that extends towards the river - but I personally think it could be half a century until anything is seriously considered.

Ultimately if Harvard really pushes out to Allston, it's going to be necessary - shuttle buses will never cut it.
 
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