“The scale of the properties in Allston creates very different possibilities,” says Mary H. Power, senior director of community relations for Harvard. “We could create meadows on the land, we could recreate the fens.”

The Harvard planners stress that nothing is definite, and that any expansion in Allston will be long and gradual.

“Even if we spent all the money now, and got the land, we’d be back at this question of who will go.” Spiegelman says.

Moving On Down

Little doubt remains about the general use of the land: graduate student housing, community housing, a new academic precinct and new commercial spaces, and likely a new museum. The question now is who will go.

Only the FAS had been deemed unmovable—Rudenstine called any such action inconceivable at a faculty meeting this spring.

But Spiegelman says that even FAS science facilities could move across the River.

“I don’t mean to contradict the president, but that is his vision at the close of his term. In the sciences particularly, a lot of space is needed, and that may mean moving to a location away from the Cambridge campus,” Spiegelman says.

The Education School is discussed most frequently as a candidate to move, because it, like the Kennedy school, has no edges on which it might expand.

The Education and Kennedy schools have resorted to renting space around Harvard square to house their growing program, but can only accommodate expansion up to a point, according to Joel C. Monell, Dean of the Education School.

“It’s not that we’ve offered to move, or been approached as a candidate, it’s just that we’re landlocked, and there’s a limit on expansion. That’s why it often comes to people’s lips that the Education School is the top candidate,” Monell says.

Grogan mentioned the possibility that in the long term, a new professional campus in Allston could bring together the Business School, the Law School, the Education School and the Kennedy School to accommodate the recent push for interfaculty initiatives.