$45,000,000 Spent in Five Years on Building New Jewish Centers

New structures completed and occupied, buildings in construction, and those in the planning stage for Jewish community centers in all sections of the U. S. and in Canada totalled approximately $45,000,000 during the past five years, it was reported by the National Jewish Welfare Board, on the eve of the nationwide celebration of the Jewish community center movement’s centennial. The JWB is the national association of centers and Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Associations.

One hundred and thirty-five centers and “Y’s,” the building study shows, were, in the past five years, at various stages of construction, from the acquisition of sites to dedication and occupancy of completed facilities. The greatest center and “Y” building activity took place in the New England region, where 24 agencies were engaged in building programs. The New York metropolitan area was close behind, with 21 center construction projects.

In the New York metropolitan area, where there are 90 Jewish community centers and YM-YWHA’s affiliated with the National Jewish Welfare Board, 12 agencies completed and occupied new facilities in the five-year period ending September 1, 1953, and two others completed major alterations to their facilities. The aggregate cost of this building activity was $7,045,000.

Seven center structures have been completed and occupied in 1953, in these communities: Bayonne and Hillside, N.J.; Akron and Toledo, Ohio; Revere, Mass.; Hazleton, Pa., and Toronto, Canada. In 13 other communities, construction on Jewish community centers got under way during the first nine months of 1953, while seven centers – in Belmont-Watertown, Mass.; Trenton and Newark, N. J.; Phoenix, Ariz.; San Diego, Cal., and New York City – acquired sites for construction.