OUR COMMUNITY

W

ith more than $4 million raised 
so far toward its $4.5 million 
capital campaign to completely 
renovate its building on Griswold Street, 
the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue 
(IADS) marks its first century in serving 
Detroit’s Jewish community as it looks 
ahead to its next.
From its humble beginnings in 1921 in 
a house on Rosedale Court in Detroit’s 
North End to the 1962 purchase of its 
current Downtown building, the site of 
the former Fintex clothing store, the shul 
has remained Detroit’s longest continual 
Jewish congregation.
Construction is scheduled to begin in 
October after the holidays and be ready 
for a grand reopening just in time for 
Chanukah 2022. The capital campaign, 
which continues through this fall, is possi-

ble thanks in part to major gifts from the 
William Davidson Foundation, the Max 
M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, the 
Gilbert Family Foundation and the D. Dan 
and Betty Kahn Foundation.

A COLLABORATIVE SPACE
Renovations will increase the footprint 
of the five-floor building from 12,000 to 
15,000 square feet, potentially providing 
office and conference room space for 
other Metro Detroit Jewish agencies such 
as the Jewish Community Center, Hazon 
and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan 
Detroit.
It will be topped off with a rooftop 
garden/event space for everything from 
weddings to social happy hours. IADS 
President Vadim Avshalumov said the 
synagogue’s renovation plans reflect its 

Downtown Synagogue plans 
$4.5 million renovation.

continued on page 16

STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

14 | JULY 15 • 2021 

ON THE COVER

in 
the

RENDERINGS FROM LAAVU DESIGN OF DETROIT

Pretty
City

