The Azrieli Foundation is donating $15 million toward the construction of a new home for Herzliah High School on the Montreal Jewish Community Campus.
With this lead gift, Herzliah has officially launched a $50-million capital campaign for the project. The construction cost is estimated at $30 million, and the remainder will go into an endowment fund, said Azrieli Foundation chief operating officer Dena Libman.
Scheduled to open during the 2017-2018 school year, the 95,000-square-foot building will feature the latest in education technology and a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) centre, as well as spacious classrooms, a rooftop terrace and garden, and a variety of labs and group meeting spaces, according to a June 16 press release from the foundation.
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The new school will be built on the parking lot of the YM-YWHA/Jewish Community Centre.
Herzliah and its elementary branch, Talmud Torah, will become known as “Les écoles Azrieli schools,” while retaining their individual names.
Herzliah currently has 450 students. The new school will have a capacity for 550 students.
“Herzliah’s exciting and forward-looking plans, including a beautiful new building, ensure that it will be a leading-edge institution that fosters innovation, critical thinking and creativity,” stated foundation chair and chief executive officer Naomi Azrieli.
“Our philanthropic investment reflects our belief in the school’s mission and vision, along with our commitment to Montreal’s Jewish community.”
Three members of the Azrieli family attended Herzliah, and Naomi’s mother, Stephanie Azrieli, was the librarian at Talmud Torah for many years.
An above-ground bridge will connect the new Herzliah to the Jewish Community Campus to encourage students’ use of such institutions as the Jewish Public Library, the Segal Centre for Performing Arts, Federation CJA and the Y. That physical connection is intended to also serve as a symbol of the “strategic partnership” between the school and these institutions.
“Strategically linking Herzliah’s new home to the Jewish Community Campus will bring the next generation of leaders into the epicentre of Jewish life,” said Monica Mendel Bensoussan, president of Talmud Torah/Herzliah. “This will help ensure that the entire Jewish community is stronger, more vibrant, and infused with the enthusiasm, creativity and energy of our Jewish youth.”
Herzliah and Talmud Torah are currently located a block away, on St. Kevin Avenue. Talmud Torah will take over the space vacated by the high school, Libman said. Currently, it rents space in the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue next door to accommodate an overflow of students.
A proposal to build a new Herzliah was first announced in 2014, jointly by the school and the Y, but no further developments or information about whether the project would go ahead were made public until June 16.
Such an ambitious project was greeted with surprise two years ago, given that enrolment in mainstream anglophone Jewish schools has been on the decline for decades.
It was felt at the time that the proximity of the school would help invigorate the Y, which had been losing members.
Once the new Herzliah opens, all students will have automatic membership at the Y, Libman said. While the school will have its own gym, under an agreement, Herzliah will have dedicated use of some Y gym space, as well as the pool and running track, at certain times.
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Herzliah and Talmud Torah closed their campus in St. Laurent in 2011 as a result of decreasing enrolment and financial constraints, consolidating at the Snowdon campus.
A plan, led by the federation, to merge Herzliah/Talmud Torah and Bialik High School and its Jewish People’s and Peretz Schools because it was felt both schools would not be sustainable over the long term, was abandoned in 2011.
JPPS sold its school on Van Horne Avenue last year, and moved the elementary branch to the Bialik campus in Côte St. Luc.