The much-publicized University Master Plan has regained momentumafter a $2.5 million payment to host communities Medford andSomerville soothed fractured relations with Tufts.
Progress on University construction projects was stalled whenthe cities, particularly Somerville and its Historical PreservationCommittee (SPHC), objected to the modification of Professors Row bythe addition of the future Sophia Gordon Hall.
The University's recent agreement to pay each city $1.25 millioninstead of Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) "lifted a cloud" thathad been hanging over the progression of the Master Plan, accordingto Doug Johnston, the principal architect at the firm handling theproject, William Rawn Associates.
Still, the University seems to have conceded to most of thecities' demands to preserve the appearance and historic nature ofProfessors Row.
The school has redesigned Sophia Gordon Hall so that it nolonger intrudes on Professors Row, and the University's planned newmusic building will be constructed in the parking lot beside Cohen.The University had originally been planning to build the musicbuilding where Zeta Psi currently stands, at the corner of TalbotAvenue and Professors Row.
University officials have framed the payments as a gesture ofgoodwill and just compensation for the use of the cities'services.
"That was a bit of a breakthrough in terms of establishing thosefundamental development agreements with the cities and thoseunderstandings with both mayors," Johnston said. In the spirit ofthe cooperation between Tufts and its host communities, "the MasterPlan fortunately is coming along with that cloud lifted from thediscussions."
Representatives from the cities and both mayors were briefed onthe initial phases of Master Plan development, and will continue tobe included in meetings, Johnston said.
Tufts has worked to include its host communities in planningefforts, but it remains to be determined just how much the citieswill be involved.
"There was an appreciation that Tufts was treating thatengagement early in the process," Johnston said. "There was apositive sense of Tufts having reached out to them to present theMaster Plan at its earliest draft stages. It's not being deliveredto the towns as a fait accompli, but a work in progress."
The cities' involvement is especially important since town-gownrelations reached a nadir in the spring of 2004.
The SPHC was locked in a battle with Tufts over the demolitionof first University President Hosea Ballou's former home at 20Professors Row in order to build Gordon Hall. Tensions also arosewhen complaints from local residents about noisy off-campus partiesled to an increase in city police patrolling of Tufts' studentsoff-campus housing.
Statewide budget cuts had left Medford and Somervillecash-strapped, and the mayors of both towns unsuccessfully lobbiedthe University to provide PILOTs for some time before they obtainedthe $1.25 million payments.
The payments "[opened] up the avenues of communication onimportant projects that are essential to Tufts' future," TuftsDirector of Community Relations Barbara Rubel said at the time. Oneof those projects seems to have been the Master Plan.
Since the first phase of the Master Plan did not set anyspecific goals, Johnston said the meetings with representativesfrom Tufts and the cities were more about reaching out to thecommunity than discussing specific provisions of development.
"Because the Master Plan has not yet reached a point ofspecificity, with specific proposals in terms of new buildings andparking and so on, there wasn't a lot for them to be eitherpositive or negative about, except to say that the process was oneof engaging them early, and that was well-received," Johnstonsaid.
Mark Horan, spokesman for Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone,confirmed that the city had been told about the Master Plan. "Themayor has been briefed on it, and for the most part it looks likehe thinks it's a good plan and we'll see what develops," Horansaid. "He especially thinks it's a good idea to preserve ProfessorsRow."
Johnston said that at this point, it is unknown how much Medfordand Somerville will be involved in future discussions of the MasterPlan, but its contents show the University's efforts to improve therelationships with the cities.
For example, in the Physical Planning Initiative, Rawn hopes to"improve the sense of arrival on campus" and "enhance connectionsto Davis Square and Medford Square." Meeting these goals wouldinclude capitalizing on the shared history of the communities,Johnston told students and faculty at a Sept. 21 meeting.
Planning initiatives as simple as how the University grounds arelandscaped will also impact the towns, Johnston said.
"Certain parts of the campus edges have rather formal, grand,historical cast iron fences and gates and brick pillars, whereasother parts of the campus have rather meager chain link fences,"Johnston said. "There's a quality difference in terms of those twoways of dealing with the same issue. We'd be looking at ways oftrying to improve areas from an edge, and landscape conditions thatwe think are substandard."
Those improvements will take Tufts' host communities intoaccount. "Building big fences may or may not be an appropriatetreatment. The old iron fences are charming in a way, but creatingwalls between the campus and the community is not an effective wayof dealing with neighbors," Johnston said.
