Akron Jewish Center

Last updated

Akron Jewish Center
Akron Jewish Center.jpg
The former synagogue, now community center, in 2013
Religion
Affiliation
Ecclesiastical or organisational status
  • Synagogue (19291973)
  • Church (19731985)
  • Community center (since c.1985)
OwnershipCity of Akron
Location
Location220 South Balch Street, Akron, Ohio
CountryUnited States
USA Ohio relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Ohio
Geographic coordinates 41°5′12″N81°32′3″W / 41.08667°N 81.53417°W / 41.08667; -81.53417
Architecture
Architect(s)
  • Fichter & Brooker (1929)
  • Michael M. Konarski (1951)
Type Synagogue architecture
Style
Date established1924 (as a Jewish congregation)
Completed1929 (1929); 1951
Akron Jewish Center
NRHP reference No. 86001919
Added to NRHPJuly 24, 1986
[1]

The Akron Jewish Center is a historic building in Akron, Ohio, in the United States. It was built in 1929 and expanded in 1951 as a synagogue, Jewish community center, and headquarters for the organization with the same name for over 45 years. The building was subsequently used as a church and, since 1985, as a community center operated by the local city authorities.

Contents

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Description

The address of the center is 220 S. Balch Street. Designed by architectural firm Fichter & Brooker in a free Romanesque Revival style the details display Byzantine Revival influences. Built in 1929 the two and a half story masonry building is constructed of red brick in American bond pattern. Exterior trim is faux granite terra-cotta, with the raised basement demarcated by a prominent terra-cotta water table. The main entrance is raised six steps above ground level. Exterior walls rise to a parapet with a frieze that creates the effect of corbelling and a low profile ornamented cornice. The parapet conceals a flat roof. [2]

On the long side of this basically rectangular structure the grandly ornamented main entrance is set off center. An archway featuring multiple archivolts resting on a boss that is a stylized old testament[ sic ] (see Torah) figure in turn resting on biblical[ sic ] lions (see Lion of Judah). [2] The entire arch is supported by multiple engaged columns in groups set at 90 degrees from each other. Four multiple light doors with the center two paired are topped by wide cross beam bearing the words, "Akron Jewish Center" supporting a fully glazed tympanum. A smaller doorway on the left leading directly to the athletic facilities has a deep transom and ornamented lintel. [2]

Further to the left is a large addition constructed in 1951. This addition was designed by Michael M. Konarski in a congruent Art Deco style with interpretations of Byzantine influences evident in the terra-cotta detailing. Matching brick was used for this addition. A notable feature of the interior is a multipurpose auditorium with balconies and a full proscenium stage. The seating capacity in stage configuration is 1,000. Extensive athletic facilities with equipment and a wide variety of recreational and social purposed rooms are complemented by office and civic spaces. The low profile building fits quietly in a neighborhood that remains residential. [2]

Jewish community center

The Akron Jewish Center is also the name of the organization for whom this building was headquarters for over forty-five years. The charter to establish the Akron Jewish Center was secured by a group of prominent local Jewish men who organized for that purpose in 1924. As a Jewish community center the organization and the facility served a deep variety of religious and secular purposes.

A synagogue and all associated functions were just the beginning of the activities of the center. The health of the community was advanced physically, socially, intellectually, spiritually and in civic discourse. The organization was very active in the community at large as well as within the Jewish community of Akron. In addition to the full complement of religious and Jewish cultural programming, concerts, theatrical performances and a civic speaker series aimed at the wider community were put on by the center. [2]

The theatrical performances and concerts were popular and the speaker series Akron Civic Forum had developed into a television and radio program in 1986. Notable guests of the speaker series included Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, Robert A. Taft, Edward R. Murrow and Drew Pearson. The program America's Town Meeting of the Air broadcast from the center twice. [2]

The property is composed of several lots including one that had been a meeting place for a local Jewish congregation. The cornerstone was laid on November 4, 1928 and the building was dedicated and opened on September 22, 1929. The building's architects were J. Adam Fitcher and Harry A. Brooker namesakes of a firm that left a notable imprint on Akron across two decades. [2]

Modern times

The Akron Jewish Center organization moved out of the building in 1973, selling it to Shadyside Baptist Church which occupied it until 1985. Today the building is owned by the City of Akron, which uses it as a community center. [3]

The property was listed in the United States National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1986. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Synagogue (Essen)</span> Building in Essen, Germany

The Old Synagogue in Essen is one of the largest, best preserved and architecturally most impressive testimonies to Jewish culture in pre-war Germany. Built in the centre of the city, the Byzantine style former Synagogue was originally consecrated as the Neue Synagoge in 1913; it now houses an institution dedicated to documenting and promoting the history of the city's former Jewish community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denby High School</span> High school in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan

The Edwin C. Denby High School is a public secondary education school located at 12800 Kelly Road in northeastern Detroit, Michigan. Denby High opened in 1930, and the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. It is a part of Detroit Public Schools Community District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntington Tower</span> Office building in Akron, Ohio, United States

Huntington Tower, earlier known as FirstMerit Tower,First National Bank Building, the First Central Tower and the First Central Trust Building, is a skyscraper in Akron, Ohio. The centerpiece of downtown Akron, it sits in the Cascade Plaza at the corner of King James Way and East Mill Street. The 330 ft (100 m) tower has been the city's tallest building since its completion in 1931.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Post Office (Canal Street Station)</span> Historic post office in Manhattan, New York

The United States Post Office Canal Street Station, originally known as "Station B", is a historic post office building located at 350 Canal Street at the corner of Church Street in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1937, and designed by consulting architect Alan Balch Mills for the Office of the Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Post Office–Naugatuck Main</span> United States historic place

The U.S. Post Office-Naugatuck Main, also known as Naugatuck Main Post Office, is a historic former post office building at Church and Cedar Streets in Naugatuck, Connecticut. Designed in 1915 and completed the following year, it is one of the most architecturally sophisticated post office buildings in the state. It is set among a cluster of civic buildings designed by McKim, Meade & White. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Naugatuck's current post office is located at 170 Water Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bakersfield Californian Building</span> United States historic place

The Bakersfield Californian Building, also known as the Bakersfield Californian Building, is a historic office building in Bakersfield, California. The structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on March 10, 1983. It was built for the newspaper The Bakersfield Californian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main–Market Historic District</span> Historic district in Ohio, United States

The Main–Market Historic District is a historic district located in Akron, Ohio. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth El Jewish Center of Flatbush</span> Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Brooklyn, New York

Congregation Beth El of Flatbush, or simply, Beth El of Flatbush, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 2181 East 3rd Street, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States. The congregation worships in the Sephardic rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James J. Sullivan School</span> United States historic place

The James J. Sullivan School is a historic elementary school that is located in the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethan Allen School</span> United States historic place

Ethan Allen School is a K–8 school which is located in the Mayfair neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is part of the School District of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Wayne School</span> United States historic place

The Anthony Wayne School is a historic former school building located in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was designed by Henry deCoursey Richards and built between 1908 and 1909.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S. Weir Mitchell School</span> United States historic place

The S. Weir Mitchell Elementary School is an historic, American elementary school that is located in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is part of the School District of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry C. Lea Elementary School</span> United States historic place

Henry C. Lea Elementary School is an historic elementary school which is located in the Walnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is part of the School District of Philadelphia and was named after the publisher, civic activist and historian Henry Charles Lea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple B'Nai Israel (Olean, New York)</span>

Temple B'Nai Israel is a deconsecrated synagogue located in Olean, Cattaraugus County, New York, in the United States. The synagogue was erected in 1929, closed in 2019 and was deconsecrated in December 2020; the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 and has been used as a community theater since the deconsecration. The B'Nai Israel Congregation that occupied the synagogue, a Conservative/Reform Jewish congregation established in 1894 as the Olean Hebrew Association, continues to operate using rented space elsewhere in Olean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civic Center Financial District</span> United States historic place

The Civic Center Financial District is a historic district composed of five buildings near the intersection of Colorado Boulevard and Marengo Avenue in Pasadena, California. The Security Pacific Building and the Citizens Bank Building are located at the intersection itself and considered the centerpieces of the district, while the MacArthur, Mutual, and Crown Buildings are located on North Marengo. The buildings, which were built between 1905 and 1928, are all architecturally significant buildings used by financial institutions in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moore Building</span> United States historic place

The Moore Building is a historic commercial building at 519-23 Center Street in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a two-story brick building with Mission Revival styling, designed by Thompson, Sanders & Ginocchio and built in 1929. It has an orange tile parapet roof, with parapetted corners, and periodic use of decorative tiles and terra cotta panels on its two street-facing facades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First National Bank of Rock River</span> United States historic place

The First National Bank of Rock River was built in 1919 in the small community of Rock River, Wyoming, at the peak of a local oil boom and operated from February 1920. The bank closed its doors on April 11, 1923 as the oil boom collapsed and its vice president was convicted of embezzlement. The bank went into receivership on June 14, 1923 and its building sold to the new Citizen's State Bank, but was claimed by Albany County for back taxes in 1931. In 1936 the county sold the building to the town. It became a civic center for the town, operating a post office until the 1950s. A doctor's office had occupied the rear in the 1920s, and in the 1940s apartments were built, which later became the town's jail. With the departure of the post office the building became a fire station. From 1935 to 1985 the Council Room was used by civic organizations. From 1940 to 1985 another room was the town library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Center Commercial Historic District</span> Historic district in Michigan, United States

The New Center Commercial Historic District is a commercial historic district located on Woodward Avenue between Baltimore Street and Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vesper-Buick Auto Company Building</span> United States historic place

The Vesper-Buick Auto Company Building, at 3900-3912 W. Pine in St. Louis, Missouri, was built in 1927. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth-El Zedeck Temple</span> United States historic place

Beth-El Zedeck Temple, originally known as Beth-El Temple, is a historic synagogue located in the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The building was completed in 1924, and was originally home to Congregation Beth-El before merging with the Ohev Zedeck congregation in 1928. It is the oldest remaining synagogue structure in Indianapolis.

References

  1. "National Register Information System  Akron Jewish Center (#86001919)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pahlau, James A. (July 24, 1986). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Akron Jewish Center". National Register of Historic Places. Washington, D.C., USA: National Park Service. Retrieved February 25, 2020 via National Archives and Records Administration.
  3. "Balch Street : City of Akron". www.akronohio.gov. Retrieved December 31, 2020.