Word: rth
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...That was back in 1969 when the University sent eviction notices to 180 tenant families in the Francis St. section of Mission Hill so it could clear the area for land-banking purposes. The tenants, with strong support from striking students at Harvard, formed the Roxbury Tenants of Harvard (RTH), and soon after forced the University to back down. The homes, some of them now rehabilitated at University expense, still stand as a testimonial to Harvard's capitulation...
...fact, the University even surrendered the lease on a valuable parcel of land nearby for the construction of a mixed-income housing project. This project would allow RTH residents to move from their homes to cheaper, modern housing. The housing project would thus clear the way for the hospital expansion Harvard wanted...
...RTH had no experience with building any housing project, let alone one as ambitious as this one. It was only through Harvard's expertise that the residents managed to secure a $40-million mortgage from the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, the largest home loan that the MHFA has ever offered. But because the project was profit-making (274 of 774 units were to be rented at the market rate), MHFA could go only 90 per cent of the project's cost. So the University bailed out the housing project by contacting banking connections unavailable to RTH, and put its credit...
...didn't come for free. When student support at Harvard for RTH dissipated and the tenant organization itself grew flabby and lost some of its fight as well as some of its more radical members, Harvard began to exact some concessions. In exchange for some of its earlier aid to the RTH dream homes, the University asked for one simple favor--RTH was not to come out against the total-energy power plant. In February of 1975, the residents agreed to the deal...
...understanding with RTH was only a paper agreement, not good enough to stand up to possible attacks by other Mission Hill residents, those living on the other side of Huntington Ave. The BRA might be sensitive to such protests when considering whether to give MASCO the go-ahead. The residents across the street would not benefit from the housing, but would share the pollution. What if these residents were to rally support in the community against the plant--visible, angry antagonisms that could burst out at the BRA's hearing on the project's building permit and jeopardize the plant...