For months, officials have challenged the sale, maintaining that the rail yard is a crucial route for freight and commuters.
Alan Stone, Harvard’s vice president of government and community affairs, indicated that notions of Harvard moving the roadway or the toll plaza were completely implausible.
“Our position all along was that we don’t want any transportation needs in the area to be compromised, and that continues to be our position,” he said.
Stone pointed to the extensive negotiation process that led to Harvard’s protection agreements for the MTA and the MBTA, which shares the railway with freight carrier CSX.
“Was it an open process, followed under law, was there public bidding, did we prevail in the bidding, were the concerns worked out?” he asks. “I think the answer to all those things is yes.”
But Menino reiterated his earlier concerns over the circumstances of the sale process, adding that he was upset over Harvard’s lack of clarity about their plans for the land.
“The thing I was upset about was that there was no process the city was considered in,” he said. “Harvard just said ‘we’re going to buy it.’ What about the future of that decision, and how does that economically impact that train yard? A lot of our product comes in through that yard.”
Menino expressed dissatisfaction with Harvard’s and the Turnpike’s engagement with City Hall.
“This is a combination of the state’s and Harvard’s fault,” he said. “There should have been more consultation with the city. We’re the ultimate agency that’s going to do the zoning of the properties. We should have part of the continual dialogue.”
Other lingering concerns about the sale to Harvard revolve around the environmental impact Harvard might have on the land, said Galvin. He pointed to the fragility of the land due to its location along the Charles River.
“As the chairman of the Massachusetts Historical Society, I’m well aware of the historical conditions of that site,” he said. “Due to a combination of institutional constructions, including [Harvard’s] new grad student housing, the river has been walled in. And the proposals would suggest a further walling in of the river.”
The 91-acre parcel is the largest underdeveloped piece of land in Boston. It augments the University’s land holdings in Boston by a third, bringing its number of acres in the city to 367.
When Harvard bought the adjacent 48-acre Allston Landing North parcel from the Turnpike in 2000, the University received the public blessing of Mayor Menino.
Except for a brief statement to the Boston Globe in April, Menino has been mostly tight-lipped in public about his concerns about the Allston land purchases.
Despite the mayor’s anger with the University’s announcement in 1997 that it had secretly purchased a large swath of land in Allston, Harvard’s relationship with City Hall has been mostly amicable in recent years. Since 1999, the University has worked on a strategic plan with the city to guide its future development in Allston.
But Menino’s dissatisfaction with Harvard’s latest purchase could mean a new hurdle in the University’s attempts to develop a good relationship with the city.
But Stone said yesterday that Harvard plans to work hard to maintain trust.
“We’ll work hard at our relationship with the mayor, we’ll work very hard,” Stone said.
—Staff writer Alex L. Pasternack can be reached at apastern@fas.harvard.edu.