"Today we proved the naysayers wrong," he told the crowd gathered at the building's dedication. "It's good to be the mayor of a city that can achieve a victory like this one."

Trouble in the Neighborhood

Yesterday's building dedication, celebrated with rounds of handshakes and laudatory remarks, occurred amidst a period of deep tensions between the University and its home city.

Last spring, Cambridge and Harvard officials traded public barbs, each side blaming the other for impeding progress and being unresponsive.

Members of the City Council, including Galluccio, attacked Harvard's development projects, including the proposed Knafel Center for Government and International Studies on Cambridge Street and a modern art museum on the banks of the Charles, and chided the University for not enacting a living wage of at least $10.25 per hour for all Harvard employees.

"Harvard would like to be perceived as a social partner but [administrators] don't want to have their hands tied in any way," Galluccio said in June. "I don't think they've listened or really understood the advantages of developing a partnership with the city."

Administrators responded by pointing to Harvard's economic and cultural contributions to the community and criticizing Cambridge's decentralized government.

"If it is impossible for the University to be able to get things done, from our point of view [that represents] a strain in town-gown relations," Grogan said.

But city and University officials say yesterday's event helped to improve the pair's often tumultuous relationship.

"We've begun to realize that Harvard's needs and the city's needs aren't that dissimilar," Galluccio says. "Harvard benefits just as much by diversity and neighborhood stability as we do."

Galluccio says the 20/20/2000 initiative marks an effort by the Rudenstine and the University to play a greater role in community affairs.

"The president's presence here today emphasizes his willingness to take part in the process," he said at the conference.

Rudenstine says the University has a "real responsibility" to help Cambridge deal with one of its most difficult problems.

He praises the city officials and community organizers who used Harvard funds to help orchestrate the Lancaster Street purchase.

"Our part is the easy part," he says. "We just help with the financing."

"It has to be a genuine partnership," adds Rudenstine, who met with city officials twice last week, once at a public roundtable discussion and once at an informal lunch with Galluccio. "If Harvard can play a small role in [providing affordable housing], then I'm delighted."