Business

A mall in Harvard Square? Not if some neighbors get their way

The Abbot Building would anchor the proposed developmment. Jessica Rinaldi / Globe Staff

The endless skirmish over the soul of Harvard Square is heating up again.

A plan to redevelop three properties on the block where Brattle Street meets John F. Kennedy Street — including the Abbot Building, the flatiron-shaped home to The World’s Only Curious George Store — is roiling locals who worry the once-bohemian business district is marching ever closer to sterility. Turning the trio of century-old buildings into a glitzy indoor mall, they fear, would be the last straw.

“We’re trying to ring the bell quickly before this goes down,” said Susan Corcoran, the owner of Black Ink, a gift shop on Brattle Street. “The businesses that go will never make it back.”

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