Planners chart options for Harvard in Allston

The planning firm Cooper, Robertson and Partners has prepared an interim report for the Harvard community that proposes preliminary ideas and options for a basic campus and urban framework in Allston. The report is being shared broadly to facilitate conversations among the University community, the City of Boston, and the Allston neighborhood in the coming months.

The planning framework process begun by Cooper, Robertson and Partners in this report will be ongoing, and will be integrated over time with efforts in academic planning, fund raising, and cost analysis. The overall strength and health of the university will determine the ultimate pace of development and growth.

The ideas proposed regarding new academic uses and public spaces in Allston do not reflect final decisions or directions. The interim report, prepared at the request of President Lawrence H. Summers, contains choices that could help create a green, vibrant and welcoming addition to the Harvard campus. It analyses the existing conditions of Harvard’s Allston holdings and presents a variety of short and long-term infrastructure improvements, including transportation possibilities that better link areas of Harvard’s campus, potential new river crossings, pedestrian and bicycle paths, and it contains recommendations for open space and public places that could be of mutual benefit to Harvard and the Allston neighborhood. The report also presents site concepts for academic options that were developed by the Allston Faculty Task Forces last year, including sites for science, professional schools, culture and retail facilities, and undergraduate housing along the river, and graduate student housing.