Finally.
Seven years after the great recession kiboshed plans to replace the Bathurst Jewish Community Centre, which was torn down in 2009, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto announced that Phase 2 of its Sherman Campus will move ahead on the same site.
Plans are to begin construction in the fall of 2017 and open a new community centre two years later, Morris Zbar, outgoing president of UJA Federation, said at a press conference June 30.
The overall cost of the project is pegged at around $65 million. Some $17 million had already been raised, and in March 2015, the federation’s board of directors decided to raise an additional $48 million to complete the project.
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The project was buoyed by a new pledge from the government of Canada to contribute $10.2 million in matching funding, which helped entice members of the community to come forward and pledge their support, said Zbar and philanthropist Barry Sherman.
Nevertheless, the federation remains a little less than $10 million short of its goal, but Zbar and Sherman, who is contributing $18 million toward the project, were confident the additional sums will be raised.
The Sherman Campus is one of three UJA Federation projects that are part of the “Tomorrow Campaign.” Phase 1 of the campus was completed in 2009 and is home to the Lipa Green Centre for Jewish Community Services, as well as the offices of JIAS, JF&CS and the Prosserman JCC’s Donald Gales Family Pavilion.
Phase 2 will encompass 100,000 square feet and include a sports and recreation centre with a double gym, running track and fitness studios; an aquatic centre with two indoor and one outdoor salt-water pool and children’s splash pad; an arts and crafts pavilion; playing fields, including three outdoor sports courts for day camp and community use; a bike and pedestrian trail with fitness stations; handicap accessible change rooms; and a 9,000-square foot Jewish Heritage and Holocaust Education Centre and Museum.
“We at UJA Federation made a commitment to the Toronto Jewish community to build a world class community centre,” Zbar told The CJN. “This is the realization of that dream.”
York Centre MP Michael Levitt, who represented the federal government at the event announcing the project, said, “We know the importance of building community and the importance of these infrastructure projects.”
The government’s contribution to the Sherman Campus is part of a broader $120-billion infrastructure program that involves support for public transit, green initiative and social infrastructure, Levitt said.
The Sherman Campus will bring people together and support social cohesiveness, continuity “and ensure future generations participate in Jewish communal life,” he added.
“It’s been a long journey,” said Barry Sherman, referring to the launch of the Jewish Tomorrow project more than 15 years ago. “At the time, we recognized the huge need to rebuild the infrastructure,” which he said had become dated and which didn’t adequately serve the community.
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The community stepped forward and completed a number of important projects, including the Downtown Campus, with the revamped Miles Nadal JCC at Spadina Avenue and Bloor Street, and the Wolfond Centre for Jewish Campus Life, as well as the massive Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Jewish Community Campus that serves the community at the northern reaches of the Greater Toronto Area.
Phase 2 of the mid-town campus addresses another major element of the infrastructure program and will serve the Jewish community for years to come, Sherman said.
Morris Perlis, chair of the board of UJA Federation, said the Sherman Campus will serve a substantial segment of the Jewish population of Toronto. “What we’ve sorely missed is a full-service community centre,” he said.
