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May 17, 2002/Sivan 6, 5762, Vol. 54, No.35
Campus marks construction milestone
BARRY COHEN
Editor
The Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus has been "topped off."
The informal May 7 "topping off" ceremony signified that the building has reached its highest point during construction.
"This was a time to stop and pause for a minute, buy lunch for the workers on the job site and tell them that we appreciate them," said Dan Withers, president of D.L. Withers Construction, the project's general contractor. Since the start of construction one year ago, approximately 500-600 workers have built the 12-sided, 114,000-square-foot complex, located at the southeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Sweetwater Avenue in Scottsdale.
Representatives from Langdon Wilson Architects, which designed the facility; D.L. Withers; and the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix used the "topping off" event to reflect upon the construction of the campus, which will house the federation, the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, the Bureau of Jewish Education, the Council for Jewish with Special Needs, the Phoenix Hebrew Academy and the Jewish Community Foundation.
"The biggest challenge (of designing the campus) was to develop a strong expression for the incredible mission of the institutions that are for the first time to be collected here," remarked Mark Schroeder, partner with Langdon Wilson Architects. The 12-sided building refers to the 12-sided Star of David, the exposed wood ceiling symbolizes the cedars of Lebanon used to build the Temples in Jerusalem, and the concrete represents the strength of the Jewish culture, he explained.
The community responded to the call to build the campus, said Fred Zeidman, federation assistant executive director. "Everyone said, 'hineini,' here I am" ... from those who raised the money "to the guys who schlep the pipe, who dig the holes, who run the cable, in the heat, in the cold, in the dust," he said.
Another aspect of the construction has been the placing of the "creation panels" - originally part of the Jewish Community Center at Maryland and 17th avenues - on the north side of the campus, said federation president Lanny Lahr.
The Arnold Horwitch family donated the money for the panels to be stored for more than four years and then to be set up at the new campus, he added.
The Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus is scheduled to open in September.
In the future, the campus also will house the Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School and The King David School.
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