THE JEWISH NEWS
THIS ISSUE 75(P
SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY
JUNE 1, 1990 / 8 SIVAN 5750
Gym Is Air Conditioned,
4" JPM Pool Still Planned
ALAN HITSKY and
RICHARD PEARL
T
he Jimmy Prentis
Morris Jewish Com-
munity Center in Oak
Park is undergoing $145,000
in renovations this month.
At the same time, a proposal
to build a swimming pool, an
additional locker room and
multi-purpose rooms is being
scaled down but moving for-
ward.
The renovations include
air conditioning for the JPM
gymnasium, re-roofing the
structure and repaving of
the parking lot and con-
struction of 60 additional
parking spaces.
Hugh Greenberg, chair-
man of the Ten Mile campus
and neighborhood improve-
ment committees for the
Jewish Welfare Federation,
sees the roof, air condition-
ing and parking as immedi-
ate concerns, "but they do
not really address the major
needs . . . I expect some deci-
sions in the next few mon-
ths."
The Jewish Community
Center's president, Richard
Maddin, and executive vice
president Morton Plotnick,
say construction plans for a
JPM addition are now being
prepared. They will be put
out for bids and then sub-
mitted to the Federation's
capital needs committee.
They declined to discuss
the specific proposals, but
Bob Aronson, Federation ex-
ecutive vice president, be-
lieves the final proposal will
be for an indoor swimming
pool and health club.
"This is what it looks like
to me now," Aronson says.
The capital needs com-
mittee was asked to
prioritize future projects
"and JPM came out right at
the top of the list," says
Aronson. "The original pro-
posal was $3 million, plus $2
million in endowment funds.
Now we are talking $1.5
million to $2 million for an
indoor pool and health club
that would attract families
"I can't guarantee what it
will be. Would a campaign
for the Home for Aged take
precedence? That's up to
(Federation's) financial
oversight committee.
"Meanwhile, the good
news is we are moving
quickly to take care of im-
mediate problems."
The air conditioning of the
gym will permit expanded
use of the facility during the
summer for basketball
games, clinics and exercise
groups, according to Irving
Protetch, Federation proper-
ty manager. It is to be opera-
tional by June 10. The rest of
the building already is air
conditioned.
"In the past, many things
had to be cancelled or just
couldn't be scheduled," said
Protetch. An example of the
latter is the JPM's first-ever
co-ed basketball camp for
youngsters, featuring former
Detroit Pistons John Long
and Earl Cureton, which
now is scheduled for June
18-22.
Protetch said the re-
roofing, nearly completed, is
the first ever for the 35-year-
old structure. The masonry
The Jimmy Prentis Morris JCC.
exterior also is being tuck-
pointed.
The resurfacing and ex-
pansion of the JPM parking
lot on the building's east
side is expected to take most
of June. Extended dry
weather is needed to begin
work, Protetch said. Spaces
will be added to the lot's nor-
th end, bringing the capacity
to 140 cars.
The work is tied in with
the paving of the main
boulevard leading up to the
Center, which goes past the
new Teitel Federation
Apartments for senior
citizens.
Repairs also will be made
to the parking lot west of the
Prentis Federation Apart-
ments. El
Panel Endorses
Gays As Rabbis
TOM TUGEND
Special to The Jewish News
Q
ualified gay and les-
bian rabbis should be
allowed to serve as
CULMINATION
full-fledged members of the
Reform rabbinate, without
discrimination or restric-
tions, a panel of Reform
rabbis has concluded.
The Central Conference of
American Rabbis, an associ-
ation of 1,557 Reform rabbis
in the United States, will
consider whether to adopt
the panel's recommenda-
tions at its convention in
Seattle, June 24-28.
The committee's report,
some four years in the mak-
ing, treads a careful line
welcoming gay rabbis and
reaffirming traditional Jew-
ish family values, in an ap-
parent attempt to limit
recriminations from more
traditional elements of
Judaism.
But the key paragraph in
the six-page report declares
unequivocally that "the
committee urges that all
rabbis, regardless of sexual
orientation, be accorded the
opportunity to fulfill the
sacred vocation which they
have chosen."
If the report is adopted by
the full conference at the
Seattle meeting, as its spon-
sors anticipate, it would
make Reform Judaism one of
the first major Jewish or
Christian religious bodies in
the United States to allow
acknowledged homosexuals
among its clergy.
Continued on Page 22