The Lab will occupy 125 Western Ave., a building that housed the public television and radio station WGBH until 2007. The location sits almost directly across from the now paved-over five acre plot that was intended for the Science Complex, a project now indefinitely halted due to financial concerns.

While a number of community members said they are excited about the project, others said they simply had not learned about Harvard’s plans for the Lab, which will open sometime next fall.

Paola M. Ferrer, the grants and development director at Joseph M. Smith Community Health Care in Allston, said she has yet to learn the specifics about how the project will help her non-profit, but said she will be participating in a focus group that Harvard is organizing.

Additionally, some small business owners said they had never heard about the project, including Kelliher and the owner of The Bus Stop Pub on Western Ave.

Like Ferrer, Allston resident and Harvard-Allston task force member Bruce E. Houghton said he was unsure what resources would be available at the Lab.

“There’s a lot of hope for communication and integration between Harvard and the neighborhood, but as for exactly what support services will be provided is unclear,” he said.

But Houghton, a long-time business owner of Houghton Chemical Company in Allston, said it was unclear how he would benefit personally from the Lab.

“Me personally, I’ve been around a long time,” he said.

—Staff writer Tara W. Merrigan can be reached at tmerrigan@college.harvard.edu.                —Staff writer Nathalie R. Miraval can be reached at nmiraval@college.harvard.edu.