Since the space agency would remove the entire Quadrangle from the tax rolls, the CRA planned to locate revenue-generating businesses in the Triangle site to compensate for the lost tax revenue.
In 1966, the Authority began to acquire titles to land and buildings in the area and to relocate business firms from the Quadrangle. In that first year eight of ten firms remained in Cambridge, but two years later the Authority was less successful as all but five of 26 firms moved outside the City.
By the middle of 1970, however, Federal budget cuts forced the space agency to abandon its half-constructed research facility. The CRA claimed a breach of contract and the government responded by locating the Department of Transportation, under former Massachusetts Governor John Volpe, in the six-building complex.
With NASA's abrupt withdrawal, development of the Triangle was also sidetracked. Thompson says that the Authority's initial reaction to the NASA departure was to pursue job-intensive development for the remainder of the Quadrangle, but that consultants advised the CRA to seek middle and upper income housing for the site.
After meeting community opposition to its housing proposal for the Quadrangle, the Authority returned to an employment strategy two months ago in its controversial motion to the Council.
Councillor Frank H. Duehay '55, chairman of the Council's sub-committee on economic development and co-chairman of the Kendall Square hearings, hopes to issue a report this week to the Council on the CRA's Kendall Square proposal, but is non-committal about what that report will recommend.
CRA officials likewise refuse to speculate on the Council's decision. The community groups, however, are universally pessimistic. "I don't know how much we can expect to get out of them [the City Council]. I'd say we have at least seven votes against us," Hard Times's Gondola said. "All we managed to do was to delay the demolition and put the plan off a few months."
Even if the Council endorses the CRA proposal, opponents hope to stymie development at later stages. Other motions that the CRA must, bring before the Council, such as zoning changes, street closings, and parking bonds, may require more than the simple majority of the Council that the present motion needs.
CTOC's Petrucelly has also raised the possibility of picketing, rallying, and other "direct actions" by the community groups.
Renewal officials are anxious to move ahead with development since, as Rowland warned at the first hearing, an extended delay could mean the loss of Federal funds for the project.
One trend that has become clear in the Kendall Square dispute is that increased tax revenue and employment opportunities have eclipsed housing as the official purpose of urban renewal. Community groups, however, find the tax arguments unacceptable. Both sides say they are interested in maximizing jobs for Cambridge residents and therein may lie the path to compromise.
"Jobs are near the top of everybody's priorities and desires," Mayor Barbara Ackermann says. "But we have a lot more exploring to do to determine what those jobs might be and how to get them to come here. You have to remember that a motel means jobs, too.