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BRA Approves Harvard's Institutional Master Plan

The Boston Redevelopment Authority board unanimously passed Harvard’s Institutional Master Plan for development in Allston Thursday evening. The plan calls for nine projects that will be completed over the next ten years, representing the first step in Harvard’s long-term vision for its Allston campus.

The IMP’s nine projects will comprise approximately 1.4 million square feet of new development and 500,000 square feet of renovations.

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Notable projects within the IMP include the construction of a new executive education facility at the Harvard Business School, renovations and an addition to Harvard Stadium, and the replacement of Harvard’s existing basketball facility.

Representatives from the Boston mayor’s office, members of the task force, and representatives from the offices of state legislators–along with numerous members of various labor unions from the Boston area–spoke in support of the IMP.

Task force member Tim McHale said he was “happy to be endorsing Harvard’s Institutional Master Plan” which came as the result of “hundreds of meetings and thousands of hours.”

Paul Berkeley, another member of the task force, also pledged his support for the plan, saying, “We’ve reached the point where the confidence level is such that we can move forward.”

Harris S. Band, the University’s senior director of Allston master planning, said that the IMP represents part of Harvard’s “vision of transformation” for an area that is currently “[vehicularly] oriented, largely impenetrable to pedestrians, and includes minimum streetscape amenities.”

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