Booking The Halls

LONNY GOLDSMITH
StaffWriter

n a couple of weeks, con-
tractors will move in to
begin tearing out the carpet
at Shiffman Hall in the
Jewish Community Center in
West Bloomfield.
Five months later — if all goes
according to plan — the center
will unveil a sparkling new meet-
ing room that can be an effective
competitor in a crowded field of
experienced players for hosting
anything from a board meeting to
a bar/bat mitzvah party.
Shiffman Hall, in the D. Dan
& Betty Kahn Building, looks
every one of its 25 years. The no-
frills, poorly lit room has deep
brown carpeting and off-white
walls with the ceiling covered by
white acoustic tiles.
It can hold up to 800 people
for lectures, Federation events,
youth group gatherings and meet-
ings. When the banquet tables
come out, as they do around 12 times
a year for events like a recent JCC hol-
iday party, the capacity drops to 400.
That is about one-third of what the
area's biggest meeting space, at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, can hold.
When the sanctuary's walls are opened,
exposing the Southfield synagogue's
two social halls, up to 1,100 people can
be seated there, making it a favorite

but can't have them all in one
room. The West Bloomfield tem-
ple has two social halls, the largest
being Herman Hall. Korman Hall
can handle crowds of around 200.
"We can do two parties a night,
one in each hall, and never have
the feeling that one outshines
another," said Gloria Brozgold,
who handles event bookings at
Temple Israel. "But there is corn-
petition to get time slots."
Herman Hall was renovated
three years ago, under the supervi-
sion of Herman Frankel, chair-
man of the building committee
for JCC's project. Removal of the
stage has allowed for more room
to set up tables under the three
new chandeliers.
Matt Prentice, president of the
Bingham Farms-based Unique
Photos by Bill Hansen
Restaurant Corporation, caters
events at Temple Israel and has
two kitchens that he works out
of, one for each social hall.
Prentice can't cater for organiza-
tions like Yad Ezra and Hillel Day
venue for community organizations.
Hills because the two Conservative
School
of Metropolitan Detroit, which
synagogues are the only ones with
"Size is the first thing we look at,"
require
a kosher kitchen.
large enough rooms.
said Lea Luger, director of development
Some agencies take parties to hotels
At the 1995 Yad Ezra dinner, held
for Yad Ezra. "We're fortunate that we
outside of the Jewish community,
at B'nai Moshe in West Bloomfield,
have enough community support that
when the synagogues can't accommo-
Luger was worried because the social
we need to accommodate at least 600
date the crowd. Hillel Day School
hall there is packed at 600 people.
people."
holds its events at Shaarey Zedek and
"What am I going to do," she said,
She said her organiza- Above: A table
Adat
Shalom because it doesn't like
set up in the
"tell them they can't come?"
tion rotates between
having
the events at hotels.
Adat
Shalom
Temple Israel has the ability to
Shaarey Zedek and Adat
Alan
Linker, president of Sperber's
social
hall.
host parties of up to 1,000 people,
Shalom in Farmington

A rebuilt social hall at the JCC
will add to a bustling business.

JCC Social Hall Renovation Bids Runs 50% Over Budget

Last summer, when building experts for
the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit were estimating
what various parts of an $18-million
renovation of the West Bloomfield facili-
ty might cost, they came up with a price
tag to re-do the social hall of $1 million.
And that's the gift that David and
Marion Handleman made in October to
assure that work could begin.
But when the actual bids came in
last month, the bottom-line total was
$1.5 million. That put center officials
into rethink mode.
Around $50,000 was trimmed by
changing the planned lighting system

to one not as much high end, while a
little more was saved by redesigning
the sophisticated dimming system.
There was no getting around the
need to replace heating and air-condi-
tioning systems nor the reworking of
the in-ceiling lighting system. Those
elements, state-of-the-art when the
building went up 25 years ago, were the
subject of repeated complaints by the
hall's users in recent years. The crackly,
voice-distorting speaker system has to
go, with a new audio/video system to
take its place. New rugs and wall treat-
ments survived the trimming process.
"We started with a list of what we

had to have," said Herman Frankel,
chairman of the JCC's building com-
mittee, "then we looked at the alterna-
tives: all the possible downgrades
without hurting the investment.
"Saving money by compromising
aesthetically might save $50,000, but
then it isn't going to serve its purpose.
This will be a facility people will feel
good about being in."
In the end, the price was whittled
down to $1.2 million, and the JCC
board of directors agreed to that figure
at its March 17 meeting. The $200,000
above the Handleman's gift will come
out of the overall construction and ren-

ovation pot of $18 million.
Frankel said the escalation in costs
was not too surprising because of the
heavy pace of construction throughout
the Detroit metropolitan area.
What do increased costs portend for
the rest of the JCC's rehabilitation,
which is to include a doubling of the
gymnasium, relocation of the health club
and a new elevator to make the JCC
accessible to all levels of the building?
At the very least, Frankel said, the
JCC will commit to the projects one at
a time, with each phase priced out as it
comes up.

— Lonny Goldsmith

4/2
1999
Detroit Jewish News II