umplestiltskin
Skyline & The Back Street Horns
An artist's
rendering of
the new JCC
gymnasium.
Simone Vitale Band
Hot ice • Cassens Murphy
• Rave • JoyRide
Nightline • Radio City
Higher Ground
• Persuasion • L'LlSA
Cheers • Intrigue
Nouveaute
Community Centers as the center for
informal Jewish education," he says. "At
the same time, we were going to raise
funds to support Jewish continuity
through the Jewish Life Fund, which
now supports everything from day
school education to youth trips to
Israel."
What these renovations will mean in
terms of membership fees has not yet
been determined, Sorkin says.
Currently, the Health Club membership
for age 18 and older is $70 a month,
while the Fitness membership is $40 a
month for 25 and older. General yearly
membership is $531 per family, $342
per individual and $294 per senior, with
special prices for such categories as sin-
gle-parent families and teens. (See
accompanying chart for comparisons with
other JCCs after renovations.)
"We will be offering an early-bird
campaign so people can join at pre-
renovation prices," Lis said. "They will
be able to lock in their membership
for an extended period of time."
An Unpleasant Split
The renovations have not been with-
out problems — some from organiza-
tions concerned about protecting their
financial and space arrangements, oth-
ers from members seeking to preserve
the reasons they joined the JCC.
For example, more than 200 racquet-
ball and squash players were surprised to
learn all their courts would be eliminat-
ed to accommodate the West Bloomfield
renovations. After thinking the number
simply would be reduced, they were told
this May that none of the 16 racquetball
or squash courts would remain. More
than 100 players and their families even-
tually gave up their memberships after
several heated meetings.
A random sampling of Jewish centers
shows that some have reduced or elim-
inated their courts
during renovations,
while others, like
Baltimore, spent
$75,000 to upgrade
four of the eight rac-
quet courts they decid-
ed to keep.
"The [West
Patti
Bloomfield] Center
Aaron
lost every single rac-
quetball player," said
Harry Krim, 80, of Farmington Hills.
Eighty players have become mem-
bers of Franklin Fitness and Racquet
Club in Southfield, says Kelly
Verbeerst, sales and marketing direc-
tor. She says her club is pulling in
$7,500 a month from the 80 players.
"We're pampered there," said former
JCC member Lisa Woerdeman, 41, of
West Bloomfield, but she added that
she and other former members miss
the atmosphere and the feeling of just
being a part of the JCC.
Mann of the Jewish Community
Centers Association has seen many
JCC renovations and says there's
always going to be some hurt. "It's
almost the nature of change," he says.
Hannan Lis, who was closer to the
controversy, said that the JCC learned
from the racquet sports situation that
"we [the JCC] need to do a better cob
to inform the community of our plans
and activities."
A few organizations
housed at the JCC
also had to face
change. The Jewish
Parents Institute, for
example, had to
scramble for class-
rooms for the 70 stu-
Penny
dents in its secular
Blumenstein
Sunday school and
members were told
JPI would have to begin paying for
their educational director, their secre-
tary and mailings.
"We do fund-raisers at the Palace of
Auburn Hills selling popcorn and pret-
zels," says Julie Schafer, president of
JPI, which has been at the JCC for 54
years. Twelve people can bring in
$600-$800 an evening for their organi-
zation, she says.
SURVIVAL on page 56
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2002
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