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Editorial
The D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building of the JCC in West Bloomfield
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The Jimmy Prentis Morris Building of the JCC in Oak Park
Multitude Of Voices Key To Sustaining JCC
W
ith the Jewish Community
Center of Metropolitan
Detroit's Oak Park facility
closing by Aug. 31 to fight a lingering
budget deficit — barring an unanticipated
new source of revenue — the burden falls
squarely to Federation and JCC leaders to
build a 21st-century JCC model that better
serves the neighborhoods now using both
JCC campuses.
In developing such an important new
model, our communal leadership must
assure the voice of a grassroots coalition of
Oak Park JCC supporters continues to be
heard during all facets of the transition.
That's the noblest way to garner com-
munity support for any ultimate repur-
posing of the JCC's Jimmy Prentis Morris
Building, affectionately dubbed JPM.
The building is located on the A. Alfred
Taubman Jewish Community Campus on
10 Mile Road, east of Greenfield.
The Committee to Save the Oak Park
Jewish Community Center has worked too
hard to help identify alternative sources
of funding and help generate young-adult
membership scholarships to be cast aside
with just a "thank you for trying" amid
the glare of a JCC overall annual operating
deficit of about $1.2 million, of which JCC
leadership and Federation attribute nearly
$1 million to JPM.
Against this backdrop, Federation has
pledged to evaluate the survey the com-
mittee is taking to capture how the com-
munity envisions the next-generation
JPM. Federation also has pledged to
involve the committee in reviewing
repurposing proposals. The intent of the
Request for Proposals (RFPs) is to "main-
tain an inclusive community facility that
continues to serve the Jewish population
in the area with programming by the JCC
and other Jewish communal organiza-
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March 26 • 2015
J14
What long has made Jewish Detroit so great
is our effectiveness in rallying around causes
and challenges we buy into collectively.
tions."
These Federation pledges are pivotal to
assuaging Save the Oak Park JCC commit-
tee concerns about Federation and JCC
leaders not inviting open feedback before
announcing plans to close JPM. What long
has made Jewish Detroit so great is our
effectiveness in rallying around causes and
challenges we buy into collectively.
A Ready Foundation
The boards of the JCC, Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit and Federation's
banking/real estate arm, United Jewish
Foundation (UJF), made the tough deci-
sion in early March to close JPM and
seek formal RFPs. Repurposing would
have a stronger chance of acceptance if
its infrastructure included Jewish access
to the pool, gym, kosher restaurant and
classrooms at JPM. Equally important
is continuation and expansion of Jewish
programming and services for the sur-
rounding neighborhoods, both at JPM and
elsewhere.
Grassroots efforts to save the Oak Park
JCC have their roots in more than 725
supporters who turned out for two com-
munity forums on wintry evenings to hear
JCC and Federation plans to address the
budget shortfall. Time will tell, of course,
how much money the Save the Oak Park
JCC mobilization will raise toward that
shortfall.
The committee, 200 strong by the esti-
mates of its leader Ron Aronson, truly
believes JPM anchors their significant slice
of Jewish Detroit so should stay open in
some capacity as a JCC. Tapping into that
energy bank of support will make the clos-
ing and repurposing more palpable and,
over the long haul, more productive.
Under repurposing, some Jewish pro-
gramming and services now situated at
JPM may be paired at a different loca-
tion with new Jewish offerings. But that
shouldn't preclude plenty of Jewish spice,
attractive to all streams of Judaism, from
wafting through JPM corridors, whoever
is managing the building.
Aronson punctuated his group's hope
when he told communal leaders, as quot-
ed in the JN: "In these seven weeks, we
have given voice to our community and,
one way or another, we want that voice to
be heard:'
For their part, Federation and JCC
leaders issued a community statement
acknowledging "the emotional impact
of the proposed changes" and vowing to
continue serving "the many diverse Jews
in the area:'
Not ignoring the nearly $200,000 annual
deficit at the JCC's Kahn Building in West
Bloomfield, Federation and JCC leaders
pledge to seek "more efficiency" to erase it
and theoretically balance the budget. Such
a balance has been painfully elusive, how-
ever: Over the past two years, Federation
and UJF have poured $4.3 million in
emergency grants to the JCC; that was in
addition to Federation's Annual Campaign
allocation of $1.5 million.
Peering Ahead
Whatever confluence of economic events
triggered the JCC budget crisis, it's evi-
dent increased operating efficiencies, a
tightened leadership structure, stricter
oversight governance and an engaging,
enterprising, finance-minded new execu-
tive director certainly are necessary.
It's also crucial that Federation and
JCC leaders derive from ongoing discus-
sions with the Committee to Save the Oak
Park JCC, as well as others, a novel JCC
model that reimagines not just JPM, but
also the Kahn Building. Such a paradigm
would have a bricks-and-mortar "com-
munity center" component, but together
we also must think outside the margins to
discover aspects that are more daring yet
practical to engage even more Jews.
Such a vision won't just parade through
our communal door. It'll take thought,
innovation and commitment — the
kind of communal hurdle we as one of
America's great Jewish communities are
positioned and well prepared for.
The process toward building an
improved JCC model will only yield a
dynamic result for both a repurposed
JPM and a reimagined Kahn Building if
Federation and JCC leaders remain open,
transparent and proactive in seeking
upfront participation from constituents
who care about the future of the build-
ings and the JCC.
To this end, constituent input must
be sought and encouraged as part of JCC
"futuring" conversations — not after
decisions already have been made.
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