Awaken the Beauty Within...

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continued from page 17

“We exist to build Jewish community
by collaborating to create
world-class education and engagement
opportunities for the mind,
body and soul throughout
Metropolitan Detroit.”

— NEW JCC MISSION STATEMENT

W est Maple

KAHN BUILDING

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Glassman Genesis

Valet Service

Jeff Stewart

Assistant New Car Sales Manager

Serving the Community Since 1969

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18

April 26 • 2018

jn

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The historic elephant in the room
remains the mammoth Kahn build-
ing. At 340,000 square feet, it is
among the largest JCCs in the world.
The 43-year-old building is very
expensive to operate and maintain.
According to Siegel, the operating
cost per square foot is $8; that’s a
total of $2.7 million annually.
Like many buildings owned by
the United Jewish Foundation,
Federation’s real estate arm, the
Kahn building is aging. Its last major
renovation was about 27 years ago,
Siegel said.
“We’ve had the luxury and the
burden of an extraordinary amount
of space,” he said.
But problems persist and need to
be addressed, Siegel says, including
improving handicap accessibility
and creating parking closer to the
building.
A committee is currently looking
at finances and feasibility and Siegel
cannot give specific details, yet he
says “the JCC is going to get smaller
and there will be a lot of reorganiza-
tion with the building. The JCC will
be operating out of a smaller foot-
print.”
Enter a concept in Siegel and
Lasday’s plan known as tzimtzum,
meaning “to contract to grow” in
Hebrew. Applied to the JCC build-
ing, it means that tzitzum will come
from renting space to full-paying
tenants, eliminating sections of the
building and using the remaining
space in a more effective way, Siegel
explained.
“When the JCC tackles the
building-related issues, its operat-
ing statement will vastly improve,”
he said, adding that reducing the
footprint could save up to $500,000
a year.
“The renewal of the Frankel Jewish
Academy lease and the expansion of
the academy into more space in the
building is a critically important and
major first step in this portion of
the plan.” (See a related story about
JET’s move from the JCC, page 56.)
Other plans include creating
an Adult Center for Education

Engagement with the adult sec-
tion of the JCC library, a conference
room and office space for related
professionals; the reception area at
the entrance will be repositioned;
Shalom Street will be transformed
into a family and parenting center
for children ages 6 months to about
age 8, again with offices for related
professionals; and a grab-and-go
café will be added.
Siegel expects some of this work
on the main floor will be ready by
the end of the summer. He was
unwilling to divulge the cost of the
total reduction of the building’s
footprint and renovations, but the
JN has heard from other sources that
the estimate is $7-$8 million.

LOOKING FORWARD

“I believe the JCC has made tremen-
dous progress over the past couple
years in righting the
ship, so to speak,
and becoming rel-
evant again in the
Jewish community,”
said Rick Zussman,
JCC president.
“I look forward to
our continued part-
nership with the
Rick Zussman
Kahn Foundation
and others who
have supported our cause, as well as
creating new relationships with oth-
ers as they regain their confidence
in the JCC and its vital role in our
community.”
In reimagining the JCC, Siegel
says he feels some of the hard deci-
sions that had been put off way too
long are being made by those in the
trenches now to create a vision of
the JCC people can believe in and
get behind.
“We believe that at the intersec-
tion of collaboration and excellence
in programming is a path for the
JCC to re-assume its fundamental
role as a community fabric-building
engine throughout Detroit, inside
and outside its cherished struc-
tures,” he said. “This is a profound
and historic responsibility and we
intend to fulfill it.” •