New homes now open at
Fox Run.
David Sachs
metro »
The Jimmy
Morris Prentis
Building in Oak
Park will be
replaced by a
new building.
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JPM demolition to begin to make
way for new communal building.
Keri Guten Cohen | Story Development Editor
D
emolition on the Jimmy
Prentis Morris Building
on the A. Alfred Taubman
campus in Oak Park will begin by
the end of the year to make way for a
new community building, according
to Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit President Larry Wolfe and top
Federation executives.
Construction is expected to begin
next spring, with completion slated
for 12-18 months later. Throughout
this time, security, landscaping and
other environmental concerns will be
maintained on the campus, as it has
been since JPM closed. The campus
also is home to three Jewish Senior Life
senior apartment buildings and the JSL
administrative building.
Amid much community protest, the
JPM branch of the Jewish Community
Center was closed Aug. 31, 2015, to
help the JCC recover from longtime
financial woes — revealed in a 2014
audit after an accounting crisis the year
before — that amounted to a $6 million
deficit.
A week before the JPM closure,
Federation and the United Jewish
Foundation, Federation’s real estate arm,
which owns the building, announced
an anonymous donor had committed
to building a new, smaller building on
the property that would be a center for
Jewish life in the area. A concept for the
building’s use included Jewish agencies,
community spaces for programming
and events, and possibly a pool.
“The donor is very enthusiastic and
can’t wait for the shovel to go in the
ground,” Wolfe said.
One of the donor’s stipulations,
Federation leaders have said, is that the
building cannot be a drain on commu-
nity financial resources. A pool is costly
and, though vendors were sought to
carry that cost, no plan was financially
viable, so there will be no pool at this
time. There is space on the property to
build a pool if the financial situation
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EricksonLiving.com
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14 November 24 • 2016
were to change, the leaders said, adding
they didn’t want to wait any longer to
move forward with the new building.
“It’s taken a long time, but it’s been
a priority for the Federation and
Foundation,” said Scott Kaufman,
Federation CEO.
Some of the delay came from plan-
ning the new structure, securing tenants
and ensuring that the facility remains
financially sustainable while meeting the
needs of the surrounding Jewish com-
munity, according to Federation.
Four Jewish agencies or organizations
are expected to have offices in the build-
ing. Negotiations are happening now as
possible tenants assess their needs and
make business decisions about the move.
For some, it may mean relocating; for
others, JPM may be a satellite location.
Federation would not disclose names of
possible tenants.
“We are now building to suit, rather
than hoping they will come,” Kaufman
said. “It will be done right.”
The JCC does plan to offer a range of
programming, consistent with its efforts
to establish a “JCC without walls” model
that serves the entire Jewish community.
The building will also offer a comfortable
environment for local residents to social-
ize and enjoy informal activities.
There will be no gym, mainly because
of nearby affordable fitness centers, but
spaces can be used for yoga or other fit-
ness classes. And there will be no restau-
rant. Vending machines will offer kosher
dairy products only. The playground
near the building will remain open dur-
ing demolition and construction, and
the Jimmy Prentis Morris name will be
retained on the new building.
“We are exceptionally fortunate to
have the opportunity to create a new and
lasting Jewish facility to serve our com-
munity,” Kaufman says. “We have never
given up on the vision of a new facility in
Oak Park that embodies the warm, com-
munal spirit of JPM and serves the needs
of the surrounding area.”
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