MONTREAL (JTA) — Canadian real-estate magnate and philanthropist Sylvan Adams has donated approximately $11 million to a Montreal Jewish high school in a gift described as the largest-ever private endowment to a Montreal community institution.
The endowment will pay for academics and programming at the 70-year-old Herzliah High School, which is currently building a new campus.
“This investment will afford Herzliah to be [the best] high school,” Adams said. “The one that Jewish families will choose in preference to all others, Jewish or otherwise.”
Adams’ name will be attached to the school, which is slated to open in time for the 2017-18 academic year.
The donation, announced on Nov. 17, matched a separate donation of about $11 million announced in June by the Azrieli Foundation, named for the late Montreal developer and philanthropist David Azrieli.
Plans were announced at that time for a roughly $37 million capital campaign to cover the school’s $22 million construction cost, with the rest earmarked for an endowment. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new school took place in September.
Adams, 57, who moved to Israel in December, is retired from Iberville Developments Ltd., a multibillion-dollar real estate firm founded by his father, Marcel.
Adams is also an avid, top amateur cyclist and devotes much of his time to related activities in Israel.
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