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14

very distressed at making any changes
that limit services."
Center leadership says it will not
appeal to the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit for a larger Al-
lied Jewish Campaign allocation. In
both 1993 and 1994, the Center re-
ceived $1,242,450 from Federation and
$571,302 from the United Way.
In addition to cutting staff and ser-
vices, Center leadership will by to cor-
rect the deficit with new fund-raisers
and patron events, expected to bring
in more than $50,000 in the coming
year.
"But that's only a short-term fix,"
Mr. Bloom says. "We've got to get our
health-club membership up to what it
was before."
Total Center membership is 11,873.
That includes general mem-
bers as well as health club
members. (Health club
members pay more for ad-
ditional workout facilities.)
There are 1,694 members of
the health club at the
Maple/Drake facility and
209 at JPM.
The JPM health club, es-
tablished last year, is oper-
ating $370,000 in the red,
says Mr. Bloom.
. In the next 12 months,
Center leadership aims to
boost Maple/Drake health
club membership by 100,
which would generate
$80,000. It hopes to increase
JPM's health club member-
ship by 50, which would
bring in $35,000. However,
an overall plan has yet to be
established.
The JCC considers
health-club improvements
its top priority, expected to
cost between $100,000 and
$200,000. Goals include up-
dating equipment, renovat-
ing locker rooms, showers
and exercise areas and
training staff.
Money for improvements, consid-
ered long-term investments, will come
partly from restructuring the JCC bud-
get and also from contributions. Mr.
Bloom says the board will approach
Federation's capital needs committee
to request special earmarked funds
(apart from their Allied Jewish Cam-
paign allocation) for new equipment.
Robert Aronson, executive vice pres-
ident of Federation, says the Center
will not receive an extension to its an-
mlal "Campaign Corridor," a time dur-
ing which affiliated agencies,
independent of Federation, may solic-
it charitable gifts for general opera-
tions.
"Federation is not going to fund
their deficits," Mr. Aronson says. "I
think they have to do a better job at
selling health-club memberships. We
will be working with the JCC very se-
riously to make sure they have their
financial house in order."
Center staff and board members
hope more effective marketing of the
health club will help the situation.
There currently is no employee sole-
ly responsible for marketing. Bruce
Landgarten, JCC assistant executive

director, says the JCC may hire an-
other firm to examine ways of better
marketing its facilities; a similar sur-
vey was conducted last March. A tar-
get population will be young adults.
The Center staff could not specify the
average age of a health club member.
One reason for the decline in health-
club membership is competition from
nearby athletic clubs, including
Franklin Fitness and Racquet, Pow-
erhouse Gyms, Fitness USA, Sports
Club and Vic Tanny. Advantages these
clubs have over the JCC are multi-fold,
Center board members say. They don't
close for Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
Their hours are longer. And, instead
of using profits to fund social service
and cultural programs, they funnel
revenue into new athletic equipment.

Two hundred JCC health club members
cleaned out lockers in the past two years.

Health club members take advantage of
exercise equipment at the JCC.

Terry Marchand, the manager at
Franklin Fitness and Racquet Club in
Southfield, says his facility has many
of the same services offered at the iCC.
"They have pools, we have pools.
Things like that," he says. "Our club
is more upscale, we have more equip-
ment and we spend a lot of money on
upkeep."
Franklin also owns and operates an
in-house restaurant that seats 120 and
rents space to a full-service pro shop.
The JCC board is considering the
success of such amenities and hopes
to lease space to private vendors who
would operate an expanded gift shop,
pro shop, coffee shop and bookstore (a
few possibilities) on site.
"We are considering everything
right now," Mr. Bloom says. "We are
not just sitting still. We are looking at
ways to improve the situation."
t 9:30 on a Monday evening, 14-
year-old David Livshits plays
basketball alone on the JCC
court. The Groves High School
student shoots hoops at the Center
"whenever I don't have homework."
His father, Mike, waits for him in
the lobby. The family has a general

A

membership to the Center. Although
the Livshits love the facility, they and
many others believe the health club
costs too much.
Year-long memberships to the JCC
health club range from $585 to $685
for adults ages 26 to 29. For those over
30, the packages range from $770 to
$845. Members have access to both fa-
cilities but may maintain only one lock-
er.
Dues at the Sports Club of West
Bloomfield — the club nearest to the
Center and considered by some to be
its biggest competitor — range from
$600 to $1,000.
Like Franklin, the Sports Club of
West Bloomfield receives a revenue
boost from its extras, a snack bar and
pro shop.
"What separates a club from its corn-
petitors are the amenities it offers,"
says Mark Pinchoff, general manager
of the Sports Club.
Cynthia Lupiloff, membership rep-
resentative with the Sports Club, says
quite a few former JCC members are
joining her club. Inconvenient park-
ing, high prices and poor maintenance
are a few of the complaints some mem-

bers have voiced against the JCC. But
these feelings are not shared by every-
one.
Tom Bender is a 32-year-old trav-
eling salesman who lives in Novi. He
belongs to the JCC health club and has
a lifetime membership at Bally's, "but
I never use it — only when I'm on the
road," he says.
"This place (the JCC) has every-
thing. It's worth every penny. One of
the advantages is that they do my
laundry for me. A lot of clubs don't do
that," he says.
However, Mr. Bender sometimes
gets a bit frustrated on Shabbat when
he wants to work out. Like many of the
other centers nationwide, JPM's and
Maple/Drake's health clubs close ear-
ly on Friday and open at 1 p.m. on Sat-
urday. The Center is one of two Jewish
health clubs in America that extends
membership only to Jews. The other
is Baltimore.
All of the more than 200 Jewish
community centers in the United
States and Canada are closed for 13
major Jewish holidays, including Rosh
Hashanah, Passover and Yom Kippur.

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