With $13.9 million in funding secured to support the transformational capital campaign, Building Our Future Together, upcoming additions, renovations, and construction will alter the trajectory of the Jewish Community Alliance.
The David A. Stein Jewish Community Alliance (JCA), the top-rated Jewish Community Center in North America, is thrilled to announce its plans to renovate and expand will begin on July 8. With $13.9 million in funding secured to support the transformational capital campaign, Building Our Future Together, upcoming additions, renovations, and construction will alter the trajectory of the JCA.
Since its founding in 1988, the JCA has continuously ascended as a community, driven by purpose and passion. That tradition continues as the Building Our Future Together capital campaign co-chairs, cabinet and stakeholders, staff members, and community leaders gather in the JCA courtyard this fall to break ground commemoratively. These changes will create a new world of opportunities at the JCA and accommodate the tremendous growth of our signature programs.
We will make way for pickleball courts at the JCA starting July 8 as crews begin digging and leveling the ground to create the courts. On July 20, workers will funnel approximately 145 tons of concrete from a truck parked safely along San Jose Boulevard through the western end of the JCA campus to pour the pickleball courts.
When complete, the JCA expansion project will add more than 15,000 square feet of additional space with a new two-story building. Security enhancements in the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Welcome Area and throughout the JCA campus will allow better service and safety for members and guests alike. Additionally, the project includes a state-of-the-art splash pad for all ages, expanded fitness and wellness opportunities, and creates a dynamic new modern look throughout the JCA campus.
The addition of a 27-foot interactive wall will help us share tangible learning experiences about Israel. The JCA’s updated Chepenik, Markowitz, Movsovitz Lobby will also showcase the rich Jewish history in our city thanks to the Setzer Family “History of Jewish Jacksonville” display. The JCA’s new and expanded art and pottery studios will also relocate to the lobby area, stocked with equipment and artist amenities.
The award-winning Michele Block Gan Yeladim Preschool & Kindergarten will add a room containing a range of stimuli to help children engage their senses, a creative development room with features for physical and social interactions, an art room, and two new classrooms. The JCA Youth Services department will add five new classrooms, a technology room, a tutoring room, and a common area for children in the after-school program. In addition to multiple backstage improvements, a new curtain will hang in the Bessie Setzer Frisch Auditorium, lighting updates will be made, and ceiling-mounted microphones will be installed to enhance our theatre productions seen by more than 28,000 children and their chaperones every season.
The newly named Selevan Family Aquatics Center, home of the Howard and Joy Korman Outdoor Pool and the Richter Family Indoor Pool, will expand to include a lifeguard breakroom, heated outdoor pool for year-round enjoyment, a parent viewing area, a splash pad with waterplay features as well as a grassy area complete with benches and sunshade structures. With five new family changing rooms, updated locker rooms, a new picturesque ceiling, a new indoor pool deck, improved entry and exit areas, and a resurfaced indoor pool, every corner of the Aquatics Center will become brand new.
The best Fitness and Wellness Center in Jacksonville will also be redesigned to offer expanded locations for our wellness partners at Baptist Health and Brooks Rehabilitation. Now named the Miller Families Fitness & Wellness Center, renovations include new equipment and a larger more spacious fitness center. Also included in the JCA’s new wellness wing will be a larger personal training studio, Pilates studio, and a new outdoor fitness area, Eiffel’s Playground. Named for the late and beloved Fitness and Wellness Director, Eiffel Gilyana dreamed of having an outdoor fitness area at the JCA. Honored to continue Eiffel’s legacy, the outdoor space will include fitness equipment and a 40-yard turf area to allow local athletes to enhance their sports conditioning.
With a final goal of $18.4 million in funding to complete this generational campaign, these dynamic changes are planned to confirm the JCA as a premiere institution in Jacksonville into the future. Committed to maintaining excellence on campus, initial campaign fundraising began in June 2022. Humbled by the support received to date, we are proud to invite the public to join in our efforts to expand the JCA.
Every Brick Counts. Let’s start Building Our Future Together.
