Most attention has been focused on the giant hole left by the halt in construction at the Filene’s block in Downtown Crossing. But there’s another giant hole in the ground in Boston: The Allston site where Harvard has temporarily abandoned construction on its new massive life-sciences center.
Now comes Senate candidate Steve Pagliuca, who has proposed a plan to restart construction in Allston — and it’s winning praise from both Harvard and Allston residents.
Anyone who knows about the Allston project also knows there’s no love lost between neighborhood residents and Harvard. So getting them to agree on anything is in itself a pretty amazing achievement.
The state and city should study Pagliuca’s idea closely, and not just dismiss it as campaign rhetoric (though it’s obviously campaign rhetoric to a certain extent). There’s too much at stake to ignore the idea.
The entire section of Allston abutting the Charles River is hurting — and it’s largely due Harvard’s slow development of the area. From a real estate standpoint, the area is a hard sell, considering all the unknowns surrounding Harvard’s plans.
File under: Just do it.
