Change coming to Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center

The new front atrium, as shown in a rendering by the architects. /COURTESY | N|E|M|D ArchitectsBig improvements are coming to the Bonnie & Donald Dwares Jewish Community Center building. The structure, which straddles Elmgrove Avenue and Sessions Street in Providence, will soon undergo a sweeping update to its front and back entrances and lobby to make it handicapped accessible and more user-friendly.

Dedicated in 1971, the building is home to the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, the David C. Isenberg Family Early Childhood Center, J-Fitness, J-Space afterschool programs, J-Camp, The Jewish Voice, the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center, and The Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association. All will remain in the building.

Plans call for front and back entrances with lobbies to replace the current four separate entrances. An elevator will be available at the front entrance to take people up to the front lobby or down to the lower lobby. Concrete ramps will be in place at both entrances.

Work is set to begin March 7, with asbestos abatement at the front and lobby area of the building as well as in the Social Hall. Because the structure was built in the early 1970s, there is asbestos that must now be removed.

Groundbreaking will follow, on March 21, according to Dan Hamel, chief operating officer and controller of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. The exact dates depend on the weather.

Donald Dwares, honorary co-chair of the capital campaign committee that has been working to ensure the renovations come to fruition, said he and his wife, Bonnie, “could not be more excited” that the renovations are set to begin.

“Our dream to modernize the facility so that it will become secure, inclusive and accessible for our entire community shall soon become a reality,” he said.

Once the renovations are finished, in the fall, you will enter the building to find stairs up to a bright, welcoming lobby or down to the lower lobby, which will include membership and fitness. When you enter the front door, an elevator at the left will be available to take you up or down to either lobby.

 “This is an exciting time for us,” said Hamel, adding that, after the renovations, “you’ll be able to see into the building. People will be able to see who we are.”

But to get there, things will get a bit messy.

Once construction begins, the Sandy & Richard Bornstein Atrium, Salmanson Family Lobby, Victor & Gussie Baxt Social Hall and kitchen will be temporarily closed. Work on the Baxt Social Hall will take place after the lobby areas are finished. Hamel said plans call for construction to be completed before December.

The front entrance will be closed until approximately mid-August. During the construction, you will still be able to enter the building through the fitness center entrance at the back of the building. To access the first floor, the Parenting Center and J-Space rooms, you’ll go up the stairs. Access to the Alliance offices will be through the door on Sessions Street. Membership services will move to the fitness area.

Parking in front of the Alliance’s JCC building, on Elmgrove Avenue, will be blocked off, but there will be parking on the west side of Elmgrove Avenue, on Sessions Street and in the back of the building.

In the front of the building, on Elmgrove Avenue, crews will install a ramp, take out the current stairs inside, install an elevator and reconfigure the interior entrance to the building. The lobby will also be renovated.

During the construction, there will be jackhammering to get rid of the existing concrete inside and outside the building, so there will be quite a bit of noise at times.

“This is construction,” said Hamel. “We’re going to try to minimize the disruptions as best we can.”

Once the front is finished, work will begin on the new rear entrance, located approximately where the Sandra Bornstein Holocaust Education Center courtyard is now. A new ramp will be constructed, along with an entranceway. The Holocaust center will be relocated to the back of the first floor lobby.

At the end of the project, the current fitness center entrance will be used for emergency exit only, as will the ECC entrance and the Sessions Street door.

The existing elevator, near the current fitness desk, will be kept in use as it offers the only access to the gymnasium level of the building. With the new front elevator, the Dwares JCC building will be 100-percent handicapped accessible, a goal the Alliance has been working toward for a long time.

Programs normally taking place in the building will, for the most part, remain there during construction, according to Michelle Cicchitelli, chief program officer.

J-Space will continue to meet as scheduled. Its rooms will be untouched during the construction. Spring programs are also set to move forward. Some special events might be moved to other venues, as needed.

Summer J-Camp will go on as scheduled since most of the activities are outdoors. Lunch will still be provided to campers; it is prepared in the ECC kitchen. Rainy day activities will take place in the gymnasium. Plans for drop off and pick up on rainy days are still in the works, according to Cicchitelli. “I don’t foresee it being a major disruption,” she said.

The David C. Isenberg Early Childhood Center will be relatively unaffected. Parents will be able to access classrooms through the back door. Parents might see increased traffic in the parking lot, but the ECC has designated spaces and Cicchitelli says that the center will do its best to minimize the disruptions.

Design for the building was done by n|e|m|d architects, of Providence. The general contractor is DF Pray, of Seekonk, Massachusetts.

“I couldn’t be more proud, thankful and elated that the major renovations to our beloved Dwares JCC will shortly begin,” said Jeffrey Savit, president and CEO of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island. “We, our entire community, will be the direct beneficiaries for decades to come of the magnanimous largesse and vision championed by Donald and Bonnie Dwares and so many other wonderful philanthropists.”

The capital campaign committee’s goal is to raise $6.5 million for the renovations. Dwares said, “The support that so many of our friends and community members have already given and will soon provide through the capital campaign is tremendously gratifying.”

The committee hopes the Rhode Island Jewish community will step up and contribute enough additional funds to make the center a true community showcase, open to all.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more information on the renovations or the capital campaign, visit jewishallianceri.org, or contact Trine Lustig, vice president of philanthropy, at 401-421-4111, ext. 223.

FRAN OSTENDORF is editor of The Jewish Voice.