Bloomstein said he thinks this negotiating tactic will work because the University, having lost development battles in several other neighborhoods, is in a position to make concessions.
“Harvard, I believe, is at a turning point,” he said. “They’re looking for a win, and they need these buildings.”
Other neighborhoods in the city have adopted more aggressive tactics to fight Harvard expansion. Riverside, the area along the Charles River, won a building moratorium from the City Council. Though the moratorium will expire next month, it prevents Harvard from building and helped to kill the University’s plans for a modern art museum.
Bloomstein said Agassiz residents could seek a moratorium if negotiations fail. But he said making such a move would only serve to delay the building process, while striking a deal would allow the neighborhood to obtain concrete benefits—such as the $1 million endowment for neighborhood programs.
Bloomstein indicated that he had received a favorable response from University officials on many of the recommendations.
But at least two major areas of contention remain—the residents’ demands that Harvard scale back the square footage of the entire project and that the archeology and natural history museums remain in their current Oxford Street locations.
According to Power, the proposed development already stays well below what is allowed by city zoning regulations. And she said that while the University has no current plans to move the museums, it may need to consider relocating them in the future to free up the prime buildings for other uses.
Power and representatives from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the firm overseeing the planning, attended the meeting last night to present a series of slides and diagrams showing the current plans for North Yard development.
When Harvard officials turned to the audience for questions, State Rep. Jarrett T. Barrios ’90-’91 (D-Cambridge) asked how the proposals fit into the long-term plans for development across the river in Allston. The Law School and the science facilities have been mentioned as likely contenders to move, but both are going ahead with building projects in Cambridge.
Power said the projects are necessary to meet “pressing short-term needs,” but the buildings would be designed with flexible uses to fit into future plans.
After the meeting, Power said University officials will continue to meet with residents in the coming months to discuss the North Yard expansion plans. The city has created a working committee of Harvard representatives, ACID members and city officials that will meet next month.
Harvard wants “some assurance that development could proceed,” Power said. “Similarly, the neighborhood wants some assurance that commitments we might make in the coming months will have staying power.”
—Staff writer Jessica R. Rubin-Wills can be reached at rubinwil@fas.harvard.edu.