Did you know there is an Ed Portal Plaza?

While it is nothing like the beautiful Javits Federal Building Plaza that I mentioned in a recent post, Harvard's Ed Portal has its own plaza on North Harvard Street.

The Science Complex Cooperation Agreement describes these "new pathways and landscaped entrances" to the Ed Portal as part of $1.8 million dollars in community benefits that Harvard would invest in Barry's Corner.
Harvard's 2009 Annual Report on the Cooperation Agreement for the Harvard University Allston Science Complex describes the completion of this project:

"In the fall 2008, Harvard created a new plaza in Barry’s Corner in front of the Education 

Portal including landscaping and streetscape improvements."

I mention all this because it is an example of how nice-sounding community benefits sometimes don't work out all that well. There was no public process to design this "plaza", and I don't think the result is all that great. Has anyone ever said "Let's go hang out at the Ed Portal plaza this afternoon?".

And while most plazas are built to last decades, this "community benefit" will be demolished just 5 years after it was created to make way for the construction of the new Barry's Corner Apartments.