Renovations Moving Along Swimmingly

Renovations Moving Along Swimmingly

Deborah K.Goldfarb |JewishLongBeach

In the early 1990’s a group of community leaders came together with a vision of creating a new Jewish community center to replace the previous center which had been functioning on the current site since 1960 Ultimately the new Barbara and Ray Alpert Jewish Community Center opened in 1999, with final fundraising being completed upon my arrival in 2005. The community was thrilled as we announced that we had reached our fundraising goal of $14M, and that we would have no mortgage on the facility Now, 25 years since the opening of the new AJCC, we have come to the place where improvements need to be made to the facility which serves over 30,000 people each year.

If you’ve been to the Alpert Jewish Community Center lately, you’ve probably seen the construction zone constituting the upgrading of the Mary Alpert Pool and the Arline & Paul Hillinger Family Deck and Patio. We are very excited about the progress that has been made, and the potential this and other capital projects are creating. The first project that was recently completed adjacent to the pool area has been the Linden-Baldwin Cafe which has been updated with new paint, furniture, and coffee carts to create an enhanced work and hangout space. We’ve already hosted a party in the new space! If you haven’t yet seen it, be sure to take a look when you stop by the center. With completion of the pool project, the Linden-Baldwin Cafe, with its modular furniture, will also be used as a catering staging area for parties, events and rentals on the Hillinger Family Pool Deck.

The pool is scheduled to reopen on Memorial Day Weekend, and we are excited to announce that the construction process is well on track to meet this deadline While the area might currently look like piles of dirt where the previous deck used to be, we will soon start laying the new pavers and you will see significant progress towards the creation of our beautiful new aquatics center and retreat area.

The creation of the new aquatics center is not only a much-awaited capital project - it is a renewed opportunity for us to engage families, members and guests of all ages. I often speak with members who remember the old pool, and the early days of the new pool which opened in 1999 They remember fondly how much of an impact those pools had on giving families a place to build friends, community, and lifelong memories and connections. We are very excited about providing even more opportunities for engagement as we reopen.

The new aquatics center will continue to provide swim lessons for our children, lap swim and aqua fitness classes for adults and seniors, and free swim for families and summer campers. Adults will also be able to relax in our new hot tub. The reimagined space will be a premier venue for all kinds of special events, such as Bar/Bat Mitzvah parties, Shabbat dinners, Havdalah onegs, movies by the pool, and endless more possibilities. There are countless memories waiting to be made.

We are committed to continuing to provide places for our community to gather, and we can’t wait to see all of you here Thank you to all who have maintained their memberships at this time, and who see the potential of this new project.

Most of all, thank you to those who have contributed to the project, and to those who are still considering making a gift to the project. Special thanks to the Alpert Family, whose 75th Anniversary Gift in honor of their family's legacy continues to ensure the Mary Alpert Pool remains the spark for community building. There has never been a better time to give a gift to our community by supporting the Capital Campaign, including the pool project and other upcoming projects soon to be announced. Please contact Kevin Giser, Fund Development Officer, kgiser@jewishlongbeach org or 562.426.7601 ext. 1011 for more information on how to make your impact.

I can’t wait to see you at the pool this summer!