Globe op-ed urges Harvard action in Allston

Thanks to Paul McMorrow for reminding Globe readers that Harvard can and should move forward with its Allston construction.

If Menino can leap, so can Harvard

Harvard’s vaunted new $1 billion Allston science center was supposed to be the centerpiece of the university’s new, modern face. It was to be the anchor of a gleaming, interdisciplinary, forward-looking empire. But construction ground to a halt in December 2009, and there’s no telling when work might resume. The science center site was supposed to be the opening round in the revitalization of a corner of town that never recovered from BRA bulldozers. Instead, the fenced-in site radiates decay.

Cutting-edge research brings in money, but Harvard isn’t chasing a profit in Allston. All it’s trying to do is strengthen its institutional standing as much as possible, and maybe not be an awful neighbor along the way.