14 Roosevelt Towers Residents To Aid in Renovation Planning

A meeting of 60 residents of the Roosevelt Towers housing development Tuesday night named 14 tenants to meet with state and city officials to plan renovation work at the Cambridge Street project.

The meeting at the Harrington School was called by representatives of state and municipal agencies to hear tenant complaints and spur participation in the renovation process.

Thomas Atkins, Secretary of the State Department of Communities and Development, said at the meeting that "not a penny will be spent until there is a tenants council" at Roosevelt Towers. The project is the only Cambridge development without a tenant council.

James Hartgering, Cambridge Health Commissioner, said last month that he would condemn the 96-unit tower building at Roosevelt Towers, which he called "unfit for human habitation." The development has been the scene of fighting between gangs of youths on three nights over the past three weeks.

Atkins called a meeting of state and city agencies Wednesday at the request of City Manager John Corcoran to discuss the Towers problem.

The officials discussed a plan to move all residents out of the tower building while major renovation work is performed. A task force of city and state officials chosen at this meeting will meet with the tenants chosen Tuesday.

Tuesday's meeting was attended by Corcoran, Hartgering, and several representatives of the Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA), including Acting Executive Director Charles Ferraro.

Speaking at the Tuesday meeting, Atkins blamed the situation at Roosevelt Towers on the CHA, the State, and the tenants themselves. He said that government agencies had "wasted time" instead of dealing with the problems of Roosevelt Towers, and that the state should have stepped in sooner.

Atkins said that part of the Towers crime problem is caused by children of residents, and that tenants must organize and concern themselves with the project. He added that "if evictions are necessary, they will be done."