The Next Harvard Square? Really?
Top to bottom: Teele Hall's next-door-neighbor; 224 Western Ave., potential future home of Harvard University Art Museums Center; Barry's Corner; Construction site, Harvard Allston Science Complex
Photos by Julia Hanna
I’ll admit I don’t have the world’s strongest visual imagination. When folks in the Harvard University Planning Office talk about the new Harvard Square that will be springing up around the Bulletin’s Allston offices over the coming decades, I kind of don’t believe it. A museum? But that empty warehouse has been next door to us forever. And what will become of Herb Goodman’s Auto Sales and his smiley-face sign in this new order of things? When my office on the third floor of Teele Hall looked out on Herb and his dealings, I could take a moment here and there to spy on potential customers checking out a 1997 Nissan Maxima or a 1998 Volvo wagon, imagine what was being said about the car’s many virtues, and mentally coach the prospective buyer. (Sure, it’s shiny and red, but don’t even think about that convertible!)
Here in Teele, we’re a brisk 7- or 8-minute walk down North Harvard Street from the main campus. It can be an uninspiring little stretch to navigate, even with the sidewalk improvements that have come over the past year. For now, the zone between HBS and the Harvard of the future is a place for scurrying, not lingering—a pass-through, not a destination.
Change is coming, though — even visually-challenged individuals like me can see that by taking a stroll by the construction zone for the Harvard Allston Science Complex on Western Avenue, due for completion in just a few years and future home of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. The ground floor of the street-facing building will be open to the public and include retail and restaurant space. For those of us who like to plan lunch while eating breakfast, this last detail is of key importance. Once it’s revealed what sort of dining establishment will complement the current neighborhood offerings (Dunkin’ Donuts, Subway) I’ll be one step closer to buying into this bright and shiny future.
Your Comments
The proposed changes in Allston are exciting. "If you build it, they will come..." This saying can apply to both baseball diamonds in Midwestern cornfields and a world class science center in Allston.
As an alumnus, I very am excited about Harvard's big bet on the future of stem cells. (And its concurrent bet on Allston.)
Think about it. It makes perfect sense. Due to several factors (geography, New England's risk-adverse culture, etc.), Harvard missed the boat on the Silicon Valley tech boom which has solidified Stanford's reputation as today's most innovative learning institution. The Harvard Stem Cell Institute gives "us" the chance to unseat Stanford. No one disputes that stem cells ARE the future of medicine. The University's investment in the Harvard Stem Cell Institute will define the University (across all schools) for the next fifty years.
Karl Zachar www.karlzachar.com