City Begins Renewal; Part of Rogers Block Will Be Pulled Down

A bulldozer will ceremonially demolish a six-family house, and President Pusey will discuss Cambridge Urban Renewal on television next Monday, the D-Day for the city's rejuvenation program.

The tearing down of a section of the old Rogers Block, the first Urban Renewal project, will be preceded by a motorcade leaving City Hall at 4:30 p.m. Mayor Edward J. Sullivan and other city officials will speak at the demolition site.

President Pusey and Harding U. Greene, vice-President of the Cambridge Electric Co., will appear on WGBH-TV at 6:50 p.m. the same evening. President Pusey, who serves on the Citizens' Advisory Committee with other prominent Cambridge citizens, has not missed any bi-weekly meetings of the committee since its creation last year.

Included in the $1 million Rogers Block project are the razing of the 4 1/2-acre area by the city and its development by a private industry. Two-thirds of the net cost will be absorbed by the federal government under urban renewal legislation, and one-third by the city.

Other possible development plans include rehabilitation of the area between Harvard and M.I.T., Mass. Ave. and Memorial Drive. These and other projects have yet to be approved by the federal Urban Renewal Administration.