views
guest column
JPM: A Letter To The Community From The Jewish Federation
I
Scott Kaufman
Beverly Liss
Alan Jay Kaufman
t is now over two years since
the Federation and Jewish
Community Center announced
the closing of the Jimmy Prentis
Morris (JPM) facility in Oak Park.
Closing JPM was an exceptionally
difficult and painful decision, made
necessary by the dire financial situ-
ation of the JCC and its potential
impact on the community as a
whole.
Regardless of the reasons, the
decision was deeply upsetting to
many of our community members.
We also recognize that the lack of
information over time — extending
well beyond when we had expected
the project to be completed — has
been perplexing and frustrating.
This is something we will do much
better going forward, beginning
with this statement.
Both personally and on behalf
of the entire Federation, we want
to sincerely acknowledge the con-
cerns, sadness and anger of the
patrons and supporters of the JPM
facility. We know that, since its clo-
sure, you have been eagerly waiting
for progress. The Federation staff
and its volunteer leadership and
supporters understand and share
this frustration. In fact, many of
those involved with this effort live
in the area, and a number were
active members of JPM.
Without question, the neighbor-
hoods in Oak Park, Southfield,
Huntington Woods and surround-
ing areas remain vital and essential
parts of our overall community.
Our commitment to this area goes
back many decades, beginning with
the coordinated effort to secure
and maintain land for use by the
Jewish community. In the 1990s, we
launched the Neighborhood Project
to help preserve the Jewish charac-
ter of the area, providing families
with home purchase and improve-
ment loans. Recently, these areas
have seen remarkable growth, and
today they offer a Jewish experi-
ence that is extraordinarily rich and
unique — drawing families from
around the country. The A. Alfred
Taubman Campus on 10 Mile Road
remains an important anchor for
Jewish life in the area.
None of this, of course, can
assuage the ongoing concerns
about the future of the JPM facil-
ity. We can, as we said, offer bet-
ter information — specifically an
explanation of why this has taken
so long, as well as a description of
what we expect for the future.
THE PROCESS SO FAR
Previously, we conveyed how the
JCC’s troubled balance sheet and
substantial long-term debt impeded
its ability to serve the community
and affected its viability for the
future. The Oak Park facility was
losing approximately $1 million
annually, while the West Bloomfield
facility struggled to break even.
Beyond this, the JCC financial crisis
posed a threat to the welfare of our
community. Over time, our com-
munal resources were becoming
depleted, potentially impacting
money that would be needed by the
broader community, including the
elderly, families in need and other
clients of our social service agen-
cies. Thus, the ultimate decision
to close JPM was made not only to
keep the JCC in business, but also
to protect our most vulnerable
populations. As we have said, this
was just one of many steps that
needed to be taken. Efforts are now
under way to reduce the footprint
and improve efficiency of the West
Bloomfield facility, better aligning
it with the mission of the orga-
nization today, along with a new
emphasis on a “JCC without walls”
model that will extend program-
ming across all of Metro Detroit.
In addition, we hoped to provide
a more modern and cost-efficient
facility in Oak Park that would con-
tinue to serve the community while
being financially sustainable. We
began looking for funding sources
for this new facility as soon as the
decision to close the old building
was made. At the same time, the
grassroots group of JPM support-
ers made a laudable effort to inde-
pendently raise funds to keep the
facility open, raising approximately
$12,000. In accordance with the
fundraising plan, these funds have
been distributed in equal shares to
Yad Ezra, Jewish Family Service and
the Jewish Dental Clinic.
Eventually, we secured a large
commitment from a generous
private donor to build a new build-
ing. It was clear, however, that for
the new facility to be successful it
would need to be financially self-
sustaining or we would soon find
ourselves in the same situation.
This set off a process of interviews
with potential operators and ten-
ants, with the hopes that a multi-
use Jewish facility that housed offic-
es as well as communal facilities
and program providers, including
the JCC, would be financially viable
while serving the community.
At the same time, we met with an
architect and carefully considered
all aspects of the proposed building,
including the overall size, layout
and function. We fully expected to
break ground on the building this
past summer, as was announced.
BIGGER ISSUES
We discovered, as we approached
the scheduled date of construc-
tion, that there were a number of
significant challenges to consider
before we began spending millions
of dollars on the new building. The
first was that balancing paying
tenants with costly communal and
programmatic spaces was much
more difficult than expected. Even
with paying tenants, we found that
providing the facilities that many
hoped for, such as an indoor swim-
ming pool, remained prohibitively
expensive. Simply putting up a new
office building was not what the
community wanted, and yet we
could not find operators willing
to commit to running fitness and
other programmatic facilities due
to the high cost.
Secondly, and perhaps more
importantly, as we held discussions
with a number of Jewish agencies
and organizations that were con-
sidering moving into the new build-
ing, we realized that there were
continued on page 8
Contributing Writers:
Ruthan Brodsky, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne
Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen, Shari
S. Cohen, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Adam
Finkel, Stacy Gittleman, Stacy Goldberg, Judy
Greenwald, Ronelle Grier, Esther Allweiss
Ingber, Allison Jacobs, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer
Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz,
David Sachs, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz,
Steve Stein, Joyce Wiswell
Arthur M. Horwitz
Publisher / Executive Editor
ahorwitz@renmedia.us
F. Kevin Browett
Chief Operating Officer
kbrowett@renmedia.us
| Editorial
Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl
jheadapohl@renmedia.us
Story Development Editor:
Keri Guten Cohen
kcohen@renmedia.us
Arts & Life Editor: Lynne Konstantin
lkonstantin@renmedia.us
Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello
smanello@renmedia.us
Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin
dannyraskin2132@gmail.com
Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar
rsklar@renmedia.us
| Advertising Sales
Sales Director: Keith Farber
kfarber@renmedia.us
Account Executives :
Wendy Flusty, Annette Kizy
| Production By
FARAGO & ASSOCIATES
Manager: Scott Drzewiecki
Designers: Kelly Kosek, Amy Pollard,
Michelle Sheridan, Susan Walker
| Detroit Jewish News
Chairman: Michael H. Steinhardt
President/Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz
ahorwitz@renmedia.us
Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett
kbrowett@renmedia.us
Controller: Craig R. Phipps
| Social Media Producer
Andrea Gusho
socialmedia@thejewishnews.com
Sales Manager Assistants :
Karen Marzolf
| Business Offices
Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner
| Fulfillment
Joelle Harder
jharder@renmedia.us
| Departments
General Offi ces: 248-354-6060
Advertising: 248-351-5107
Advertising Fax: 248-304-0049
Circulation: 248-351-5120
Classifi ed Ads: 248-351-5116
Advertising Deadline: Monday, 2 p.m.
Editorial Fax: 248-304-8885
Deadline: All public and social
announcements must be typewritten
and received by noon Tuesday, nine days
prior to desired date of publication.
Subscriptions:
1 year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $85
2 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$153
3 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$204
1 year out-of-state . . . . . . . . . . .$125
2 years out-of-state . . . . . . . . . .$225
Per year foreign . . . . . . . . . . . . .$300
Detroit Jewish News
29200 Northwestern Highway, Suite 110
Southfi eld, MI 48034
©copyright 2017 Detroit Jewish News
The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is
published every Thursday at 29200 Northwestern
Highway, #110, Southfield, Michigan. Periodical
postage paid at Southfield, Michigan, and
additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send
changes to: Detroit Jewish News, 29200
Northwestern Hwy., #110, Southfield, MI 48034.
To make a donation to the
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
FOUNDATION
go to the website
www.djnfounadtion.org
OUR JN The Jewish News aspires to communicate news and opinion that’s useful, engaging, enjoyable and unique. It strives to reflect the full range of diverse viewpoints while also advocating positions that strengthen
Jewish unity and continuity. We desire to create and maintain a challenging, caring, enjoyable work environment that encourages creativity and innovation. We acknowledge our role as a responsible, responsive
MISSION member of the community. Being competitive, we must always strive to be the most respected, outstanding Jewish community publication in the nation. Our rewards are informed, educated readers, very satisfied
advertisers, contented employees and profitable growth.
6
December 21 • 2017
jn
jn
1942 - 2017
Covering and Connecting
Jewish Detroit Every Week