Timeline. Kendall Square - 1963 to 1982

Below is a timeline of the history of Kendall Square and the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority (CRA) from 1963 to 1982.  It was an era that laid the groundwork for the "modern" Kendall Square.  Indeed it is impossible to understand today's successes outside of the context from which they arose.  Today's enthusiasm must have seemed like a distant dream in the early 1970s when NASA left Cambridge.

The dates of the timeline are significant because they span from the beginning of the "Redevelopment Era" when governmental bodies were created with wide-ranging power to radically reshape cities, to the arrival of the current executive director of the CRA, Joe Tulimieri. 

Timeline of activities and decisions in Kendall Square, 1963-1982

All of the information contained in the timeline comes from a wonderful history of the time by Thad Tercyak, a planner who worked at the CRA from 1968 to 1990.  Here is Thad in his own words:

In 1968, as an economist-urban planner specializing in urban redevelopment projects and completing seven years as a director of two major urban renewal projects with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, I was hired by the CRA as an Associate Director. I left the CRA in 1990. I participated in virtually all of the events described in this narrative which occurred during my 22 years with the CRA, 1968 to 1990. Descriptions of the events which occurred between 1963 and 1968 before I joined the CRA and descriptions of the events after I left the CRA in 1990 are based on CRA records and reports, and conversations with CRA staff.

Thad decided to write this account after a call put out by Cambridge's own Robert Winters in 2011 asking for any additional information about the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority.

You can read the full text of Thad's article at Robert's website: http://cambridgecivic.com/?p=2102.