|
|
April 30, 1999/14 Iyar 5759, Vol. 51, No.31
$10 million pledged for JCC facility
LENI REISS
Senior Contributing Editor
A new Jewish Community Campus in the Valley will move one step closer to reality on Thursday, May 13 - the date set for a site dedication ceremony at the 10-acre lot on the southwest corner of 40th Street and Shea Boulevard.
Ground-breaking is set for November of 1999, and the campus is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2001.
It is planned that the campus will be the new home for the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, which will utilize the largest space; the Bureau of Jewish Education; the Council for Jews With Special Needs; a new Phoenix Jewish Community High School; the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix; the Jewish Community Foundation; and a satellite location for Phoenix Hebrew Academy. The 140,000-square-foot campus also is planned to include a preschool, classrooms, media center, multipurpose senior center, fitness facility and swimming pool.
A capital funds campaign was initiated about a month ago and has been geared to date to major givers. According to capital campaign chairman Lanny Lahr, "We are on track to have commitments of $15 million within the first 90 days of our campaign. Critical solicitations now are taking place, and the response is very gratifying."
So far, Lahr said, pledges of almost $10 million have been obtained. Lahr said that remaining naming opportunities for donors at this point include the campus itself, the education wing, 20 classrooms, and the teen lounge.
"With our Jewish community approaching the 100,000 (population) mark, we are determined to ensure a first-class facility and to provide programs that reach every member of the family, from preschooler to grandparent," said Ron Bookbinder, chairman of the campus task force.
To that end, Bookbinder explained, the Levenberg Marketing Group of Chicago was retained last year to conduct a needs assessment.
One common thread that prevailed throughout the findings," he noted, "is that the community is looking for a place to gather. Families, especially those with children, want a place to do things together."
Bookbinder, a longtime Phoenician, recalled his sadness when the Phoenix Jewish Community Center on West Maryland Avenue was sold some four years ago.
"Many of us were especially sentimental about having to leave behind the eight murals representing the creation (of the world) that adorned the building's facade."
Arrangements have been made to reclaim the murals, he said, and to incorporate them architecturally into the new facility.
"This will bring a real sense of history to our brand new campus," he said, "and will symbolize all that the old center meant to past generations."
Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza and Councilwoman Peggy Bilsten are scheduled to speak at the 2:30 p.m. dedication, "which, in essence, is a kick-off for our community fund-raising campaign," in the words of Fred Zeidman, federation assistant executive director.
Zeidman noted that the presence of the mayor and councilwoman "acknowledges ... the support for this campus on the part of our local government."
A dove will be released at the conclusion of the program.
"We are passionate; we believe in this project and the time is right," said federation executive vice president Art Paikowsky. "The positive energy that has been created in the past few years within the Jewish community is beginning to pay great dividends."
|
