Mary Power, Harvard’s senior director of community relations, who reports directly to Stone, says the neighborhood residents lost out in the end.
“Through this recent rejection of an unprecedented offer, they have not altered the project, they have succeeded in losing important community benefits,” Power says. “My concern is that the precedent that the neighborhood has created is one of missed opportunity.”
No Tunnel, Now What?
The failed tunnel negotiations have significant aftermath.
Zewinski says that the concourse levels of both CGIS buildings had to be reconfigured.
But more importantly, the negotiations likely set a precedent for the future of Harvard’s community relations.
Some see the negotiations’ failure as a total loss.
“Neither the project nor the relations between the residents and the university were satisfactory,” says Pitkin. “We’re in a period of just letting the disappointments fade a little bit.”
But city councillors praise Stone, saying he showed commitment and great care in personally negotiating for the tunnel.
Maher praises Stone’s “extraordinary commitment” to the negotiations and says it was “a good-faith effort” from Harvard, and says that the process started the relationship off on the right foot.
“There will be plenty of opportunities to sit down again and begin a process that, with more effort and more time, will benefit the parties in future planning,” Maher says.
Cambridge Mayor Michael A. Sullivan says he agrees that the best thing to come out of the process is the city’s better relationship with Stone.
“One of the very heartening things about this process was that Alan Stone came,” says Sullivan. “He didn’t miss any meetings. We felt that someone with a real voice was coming forward.”
While University President Lawrence H. Summers has expressed frustration at the negotiations’ downfall, in a recent interview he says he has hope for the future.
“I think it’s disappointing,” Summers said. “I think there’s a sense of regret on both sides…We were not able to come to a satisfactory agreement and we hope the next time it will be possible to come to an agreement.”
—Staff writer Alexandra N. Atiya can be reached at atiya@fas.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Jessica R. Rubin-Wills can be reached at rubinwil@fas.harvard.edu.