Jewish Center Unveils Lofty Plans
Supporters of the struggling Westside Jewish Community Center hope that an ambitious $14-million renovation plan will restore the once-bustling fitness and cultural center to its former grandeur.
At an architectural presentation Sunday, planners unveiled schematics for the center’s reconstruction and invited area residents to view a scale model.
Longtime patrons of the center said they were thrilled by the plans, which include construction of an Olympic-size swimming pool and a towering play area dubbed the “Jewish Adventure Zone,” as well as a large, heated physical therapy pool for seniors. They said they were viewing the project with healthy skepticism, however.
“It seems doable,” said Saran Kirschbaum, whose children learned to swim at the Olympic Boulevard center before financial problems and dropping membership forced operators to cut many programs.
“It’s not that I don’t believe it’s going to happen or that I do believe, it’s just that I’m going to wait and see what happens.”
To date, renovation planners have raised $5 million for the project. They say they are embarking on a fund-raising campaign with renewed vigor.
Already, supporters have begun talks with two individuals and a corporation that could contribute as much as $1 million each for the project.
Built almost 50 years ago, the center once functioned as a social and cultural hub for many Los Angeles Jews in the Hancock Park, Fairfax, Beverly Hills and Pico-Robertson areas.
Membership dwindled over the last decade, however, and two years ago the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles was forced to make drastic cuts in services.
Michael Kaminsky, president of the Westside Jewish Community Center Advocacy Board, said that, physically, the facility has been “loved to death” since its construction, and it is in dire need of renovation.
Kaminsky and others have yet to state a deadline for their fund-raising efforts, but they do have a date in mind for breaking ground. “We’d like to start construction in June of 2004,” he said. “Of course, we won’t start construction without sufficient money in hand or without sufficient assurances in place that we can complete the work.”
Membership in Jewish community centers around the nation has dropped, officials say, but attendance at fee-based programs such as preschool has grown. The renovated Westside center would continue to offer preschool education, and also would offer after-school and day camp programs.
Sponsors, who hope to attract Jews and non-Jews alike, said the center also would offer a theater, gym facilities, and perhaps a cafe.
On Sunday, architect Michael Lehrer invited supporters to examine the large, scale model of the proposed renovations.
Among other changes, the center’s above-ground parking garage would be demolished to make way for the pool. New parking would be built below ground.
Another prominent addition would be the Jewish Adventure Zone, a two-story children’s play area that would include simulated rock-climbing equipment.
Of the roughly 100 people who attended Sunday’s presentation, many were seniors who frequented the center in years past. “We made a lot of relationships here,” said Bess Cohen, 86. “I hope that when they complete this, the people will come back.”
