0-

a

M

Related editorial: page 37

As originally announced, half of the money raised
was earmarked for the JCC and half for Federation's
new Jewish Life Fund for Jewish education, Israel
trips, synagogue initiatives and other Jewish life
experiences.
Phase I of the JCC improvements in West
Bloomfield — Marion and David Handleman Hall
and Auditorium, two kosher kitchens and three out-
door pavilions for day camp — should be completed
by month's end. Wolfe and other communal leaders
now have announced the tentative schedule of Phase
II; this 12- to 18-month phase will create a kosher
restaurant and renovate both the main lobby and
day-care facilities at the Kahn Building.

Unprecedented Renovation

At 350,000 square feet, the 25-year-old Kahn
Building in West Bloomfield is the largest JCC in
the country, besting the second largest in St. Louis
by more than 100,000 square feet, said JCC
Executive Director David Sorkin, adding: "No com-
munity center over 100,000 square feet has gone
through a complete renovation."
It will take the combined efforts of the JCC, the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and its
banking/real estate arm, the United Jewish
Foundation, to get the project accomplished.
Wolfe explained their roles: The JCC is overseeing
the improvements; the Federation is representing the
community in overall planning and budgeting; and the
UJF is the landlord and banking arm for the project.
"We all felt that the first aspect would be the
informal Jewish education part of the renovation,"
Wolfe said.
Federation's chief executive officer, Robert
Aronson, agreed. "The health and physical facility
has to be first-rate, and it has to attract members,
but it is not the end-all and the be-all of a JCC any-
more," he said, noting the many choices locally for
workout centers.
The JCC is special, he noted, because "there is
only one place in the community where the whole
family and the whole community can assemble
regardless of affiliation. And it is my hope and my
determination to turn, or transform, the Center into
that kind of place."

a El n
01 IV
TE

g: a

A

e.,

Jewish community leaders are stressing
the "Jewish" in the Jewish Community
Center, as Phase II construction begins
on what's grown to be a $30 million
capital and endowment drive.

— represent the next step, beginning this month.
"We're still using Handleman Hall for the Center's
internal activities, but we can't use it for organiza-
tional activities until the kitchen and bathroom reno-
vations are complete," Slatkin said. The lobby bath-
rooms, which complete Phase I, will be renovated to
"equal stature of Handleman Hall," he said.
Phase II of the construction will begin in April

Ifahn saLL

Floor Plan Ke

1. Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Judaic Enrichment Center
2. Janice Charach Epstein Museum/Gallery
3. Main Kitchen
4. Marion and David Handleman Hall and Auditorium
5. Lobby

•

with the 60- to 90-day lobby renovation, followed
by creation of Milk and Honey of West Bloomfield,
a kosher Matt Prentice-operated restaurant, which
opens in June. The 10,000-square-foot restaurant,
scheduled for completion in November, will seat
about 50 diners, with two additional rooms built to
accommodate 125 people at lunch meetings. It will
take over the space from the first-floor coffee shop
to the elevator and back through the library
Milk and Honey will be kosher dairy, have a take-
out bakery with breads and desserts, and also offer a
sushi bar. Takeout Shabbat meals, including challa
bread and candles, will be available, Slatkin said.
Phase II construction continues in September with
the 26,000-square-foot Sarah and Irving Pitt Child
Development Center. Located next to Handleman
Hall and Auditorium, on the main and lower levels, it
is scheduled for completion in one year and will serve
250 children — 100 more than currently.
"Day care requires a different floor plan than reg-
JCC CENTRAL on page 10

6. Milk and Honey of West Bloomfield restaurant
7. Samuel and Lillian Hechtman Gymnasium
8. Gym Addition
9. Health and Fitness Center
10. Sarah and Irving Pitt Child Development Center

..

From Blueprint To Reality

"The D. Dan and Betty Kahn Building on the
Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community
Campus has been, and continues to be, a very com-
plicated project," said Robert Slatkin, UJF president.
"It's a major undertaking."
Phase I of the three-phase project is nearly over,
with Handleman Hall and Auditorium, and three
unnamed covered camp pavilions in the woods
north of the Kahn Building, already completed.
Both projects cost about $1.5 million.
Two kosher kitchens — one for meat, one for dairy

Harry Kirsbaum can be reached at (248) 354-6060,
ext. 244, or by e-mail at hkirsbaum@thejewishnews.com

Source: Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit

3/10

2000

7

