The University expects the recent economic downturn to cause financial difficulty in coming years because of decreased donations and federal funding, and Huidekoper says that the “next few years are going to be tough on this campus.”

But even though paying for Allston is very much an unanswered question right now, Huidekoper says the University has always found a way to fund major initiatives in the past.

“I don’t know if people were sitting around in 1860 thinking about how we’re going to fund the Business School,” she says. “This will probably take 50-plus years to build out the Allston campus.”

Those involved, though, think the results will more than justify the long-term and expensive project.

Dixon says the project would create “the first great urban campus of the 21st century.”

“There will be lots of sources to fund this and it will be a very expensive undertaking,” he says, “but very much worth it in the end.”

—Staff writer Jenifer L. Steinhardt can be reached at steinhar@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Elisabeth S. Theodore can be reached at theodore@fas.harvard.edu.