Grogan told the Crimson at the time that Harvard’s generosity was part strategy.
“There’s an element of altruism, but I don’t mind admitting that it’s very much in Harvard’s institutional self-interest to be doing things like this, because there’s a very direct connection between the health of the University and the condition of our cities, ” he said.
Harvard faces decades of compromise and enormous expense in Allston, but with big plans and nowhere to put them, Clark’s forecast of a future built over parking lots and truck depots is almost certain.
“Something magnificent will be created over there,” Grogan says. “It’s a city-shaping opportunity.”
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—Staff writer Matthew F. Quirk can be reached at quirk@fas.harvard.edu