Residents on edge as Harvard moves toward Expansion
By Kathleen Burge, Globe Staff | January 14, 2007
In the decade since Harvard University began buying pieces of land in North Allston , a small cluster of streets blocked off from the rest of the city by the Massachusetts Turnpike, the neighborhood has begun to change in subtle ways.
Two stores that residents used to walk to in the Brighton Mills Shopping Center -- Kmart and OfficeMax -- closed last year after Harvard bought the plaza. Residents also fret about losing a pet store and other local shops.
But mainly, residents say, an air of anxiety hangs over the neighborhood as Harvard embarks on plans to add millions of square feet of buildings devoted to science, the arts, and professional schools across the Charles River from its Cambridge home.
Last week, the university sought to answer some of the questions, releasing a master plan that calls for a teeming new public square, academic facilities, retail stores, and student housing. The university also disclosed that it envisions putting 20 acres of Soldiers Field Road underground and replacing surface roadway s with tree-lined promenades.
Clearly aware of their neighbors' concerns, the university said in its document that the expansion is in part "for Allston, and by extension for Boston, intertwining campus and community and enabling both to respond to the prospects of the coming century in an urban and urbane setting."
But many residents remained worried. "I think the air of uncertainty still exists," Harry Mattison, a 12-year resident of North Allston, said after reviewing the master plan.
Over the past decade, Harvard has purchased dozens of properties in Allston, now owning more land in Boston than it does in Cambridge. Residents said they have been frustrated by learning about Harvard's plans bit by bit, without a chance to see the school's larger plans for their neighborhood.
Especially concerned are residents of North Allston, a fistful of land generally bordered by the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Charles River. Many watching Harvard's plans live in a residential area of small streets and two- and three-story houses.
"Yes, there are some transient residents here, but this particular neighborhood does have a very long-standing, very stable community," said Ronni Komarow , who has lived in North Allston for 15 years.
"Because it's a small little pocket, people know each other. You see the same people all the time."
Some worry that their streets will be flooded with cars of employees at the school's proposed art center, whose plans create only 10 new parking spaces. And they fear that Harvard will erect tall buildings that will tower over their neighborhood.
"To have people standing 125 feet over us looking directly into our backyards is a big issue," said Jon Holmes , a North Allston resident.
Harvard will provide other parking spaces for the center in a lot across the street, as well as in other Harvard-owned lots in Allston, said Daron Manoogian , a spokesman for the art museum, in response to the parking concerns.
Residents have also begun discussing ways Harvard could compensate the community for the inconveniences of its planned construction projects. Some have suggested creating community education programs.
"This has always been a blue-collar neighborhood with grass-roots types of residents," said Raymond Mellone , president of the Harvard-Allston Task Force , a group that has been monitoring Harvard's development plans. "With the advent of a world-class institution, we don't want to lose the opportunities for people to attain middle-class status."
After Harvard bought the Brighton Mills shopping center and many of those businesses closed, neighbors now find themselves driving more to Watertown or elsewhere to shop.
They are frustrated that much of the shopping center, like other pieces of property that Harvard has bought, remains empty.
"It's an eyesore and a blight," Holmes said. Harvard officials have said they plan to address the problem by leasing out the buildings for five or 10 years until the school is ready to use the space.
Kathleen Burge can be reached at
kburge@globe.com.
? Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
