“We have good signals that a lot of [the changes] can happen,” McHale said. “We have signals that we can get into a dialogue with the BRA.”

‘ON THE VERGE OF SOMETHING GREAT’

McHale’s optimistic outlook in the face of recent disappointment appears to be one shared by many Allston community leaders. In the face of letdowns, the Allston community has forged ahead with different community projects.

Faust’s December letter to the community did not simply announce a halt in construction on the Science Complex, but also outlined a new three-phase plan for redevelopment in Allston: “property stewardship and community engagement; campus planning and greening; and campus development.”

The first phase of the project has already begun, according to Chief University Planner Kathy Spiegelman, and it aims to lease out Harvard-owned properties in Allston and improve real estate holdings to make them more desirable for occupants. The University is also looking to extend short-term lease contracts and encourage real estate brokers to aggressively pursue potential tenants.

Last Friday, Harvard opened a free indoor skating rink in Allston to couple its community engagement and property stewardship efforts. The rink—which will be open to the public until the end of March—aims to “bring creative, community-oriented uses to Allston properties while seeking long term tenants for its buildings,” according to a University press release.

“After spending a number of years thinking very longer term about these properties and how all the pieces fit together in the long-term, its clear that right now we’re focused much more on property stewardship,” Spiegelman said.

The second phase of the University’s development plan for Allston involves greening the community, and the planning of Library Park—a public park for the neighborhood behind the Honan Allston Library—has also already begun, according to Spiegelman.

The third and final phase of the new plan—furthering general campus development in Allston—includes the creation of a new faculty-led Work Team, which Faust characterized in her letter as having “expertise in design, urban planning, business strategy, real estate development, and public policy.” The committee will be led by Peter Tufano, senior associate dean for planning and university affairs at Harvard Business School, Bill P. Purcell, director of the Institute of Politics and former mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, and Alex Krieger, chair of the department of urban planning and design at the Graduate School of Design.

Spiegelman said that the committee will be expected to meet for the next 12 to 18 months, holding discussions with various community and University leaders to devise recommendations and advice for Faust.

“It’s very important to everyone at Harvard that the setback in construction not be interpreted as walking away from Allston,” Spiegelman said. But she also noted that she was “uncertain about when the major redevelopment was going to kick in.”

Indeed, some residents remain cautious about the University’s course of action in Allston. Houghton said that he was “very pessimistic” about Allston’s future and that he would wait to see if the faculty Work Team could deliver results before casting further judgment. He also said that he was surprised at other residents’ hopeful attitude.

“I’m not sure how they could find that optimism or where they could find it,” Houghton said. “I don’t think for any of the parties involved this is a time for great optimism. Everybody’s disappointed.”

But Harry Mattison, an Allston community leader and a mainstay at neighborhood meetings, said that many residents believe that Harvard’s new plan of action is “a great step in the right direction.”

“I’m more optimistic now than I have been in quite a while,” Mattison said, adding that the professors named to the Work Team are “highly distinguished and have hearts in the right place.”

“With their leadership, the involvement of other interested faculty, and community input, this could really lay the foundation for a much better way forward than what we’ve been looking at in the recent past,” Mattison said.

“If we can just start a meaningful dialogue with meaningful goals, I would be very excited about that,” McHale said, echoing Mattison’s sentiments. The neighborhood, he added, is “coming together...we’re on the verge of something great.”

—Staff writer Sofia E. Groopman can be reached at segroopm@fas.harvard.edu.