JEWISH
ACADEMY

The proposed school entrance.

Taking Wing

•

,,,;

Proposal would move the Jewish Academy to the ICC's top floor.

KERI GUTEN COHEN
and ALAN HITS KY

T

he Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit
and its host, the Jewish Community Center
in West Bloomfield, are moving ahead with
plans to incorporate the academy permanently into
the JCC.
Monday night, there was no opposition during a
public hearing on proposed construction plans and
accompanying zoning change before the West
Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees. The
trustees approved the project.
The $9 milliorp-proposal calls for a new school
entrance and loop drop-off drive at the northeast
corner of the JCC building, facing Drake Road, and
renovation of the existing second floor of the JCC
into 26 classrooms and additional areas for a media
center, lounges, JAMD administrative offices, stor-
age and utility space.
Current second-floor tenants, including the JCC
executive offices, would move to a new addition to
be built in a courtyard in the western part of the
building, north of the JCC gym and east of the
Rosenberg Complex. The proposed courtyard struc-
ture would provide 6,476 square feet of new base-
ment space; 6,412 square feet of JCC offices and
conference space on the main floor; and 6,300
square feet of chapel and classrooms on the top floor
for the academy.
The renovation plan would give JAMD a total of
50,000 square feet — more than it would have had

Keri Guten Cohen is Jewish News story development
editor. Alan Hi tsky is Jewish News associate editor.

8/11

2005

20

at Tyndale College in Farmington Hills, a site
JAMD considered purchasing earlier this year.
At the JCC, the school would continue to use
existing recreational facilities and expects only to
build a baseball diamond-soccer field north of the
building, between the JCC and its Camp Ruth day
camp.
Currently, JAMD uses temporary modular class-
room units adjacent to the Rosenberg Complex,
plus some existing JCC rooms. Under the proposal,
the modules would be removed.
JAMD enrollment stands at 175 students for the
academic year beginning Aug. 22.
"Once enrollment exceeds 300, we will need to
think about more space than the 50,000 square feet;
there is more room to grow out on campus," said
Rabbi Lee Buckman, JAMD head of school.
"West Bloomfield Township has been very gra-
cious to allow us to remain in modules for the
amount of time we have," he said. "Their hope —
and our plan — was for us to be out of modules
one year from now.
"We are a permanent fixture in the community
now, no longer an institution that's tenuous. We
need a permanent home."

Fund-Raising Challenge

"The goal is to raise $10 million in partnership with
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, and
they are leading the charge," Rabbi Buckman said.
"We are still developing the plan, but hope to begin
the effort very soon."
Federation President Peter Alter cautioned that
there are many issues that need to be addressed
before the project proceeds.
A joint committee of Federation, JAMD and JCC

leaders is coordinating the renovation and building
effort and proposed fund-raising. The committee is
co-chaired by Douglas Etkin and Philip Fisher.
JCC President Irwin Alterman emphasized that
no JCC funds would be used for the renovations.
Rabbi Buckman clarified that the $20 million
offered to JAMD by the Frankel family in 2003 —
if JAMD raised $10 million of its own — is ear-
marked for endowment purposes only.
"With annual operation needs and now a capital
campaign, it will be very difficult to raise $10 mil-
lion for endowments. But facilities are the No. 1
priority," he said.
Rabbi Buckman hopes 90 percent of the construc-
tion work will be done by the start of school year
2006-2007.
Alterman said the JCC "is very excited about
this proposal." He pointed out that the school is
already sharing many JCC facilities. He acknowl-
edged that JAMD's rental payments to the JCC
would increase, but the amount has not yet been
determined.
Rabbi Buckman said, "The JCC facility itself
and its new executive director [Mark Lit], who has
experience running a JCC that also housed a
school [in Austin, Texas], is a great opportunity
for us."
Underscoring the win-win situation between the
school and the JCC, Rabbi Buckman said, "JAMD
will bring a lot of teens into the building, adding a
lot of life, vitality and youth. We'll use the athletic
facilities, dance studios, library, ORT center, theater
and Handleman Hall.
"On top of it we'll also have close proximity to
Fleischman and Danto [senior housing and health
care facilities], which have always been close part-
ners with the school." ❑