About
As a local and national landmark, the Temple itself represents the Jewish community to the larger world of Los Angeles. We are the Jewish address in the heart of a city becoming ever more diverse each day. Sadly, the single most important symbol of our heritage and position in the city—our glorious Sanctuary—has fallen on hard times. Our crown jewel is in desperate need of restoration and renovation.
In 2004, our Board of Trustees determined that restoring and revitalizing our historic urban campus is our most pressing need. We conducted a demographic study that indicated a 28% increase between 1995 and 2005 in the number of Jewish families living in the Temple’s vicinity. Furthermore, our leadership concluded that since Wilshire Boulevard Temple is the only non-orthodox synagogue east of La Cienega all the way to Glendale and south of Hollywood Boulevard and beyond the 10 Freeway, our historic campus is undoubtedly in an underserved area of Jewish population growth in Los Angeles.
We have been fortunate enough to purchase property adjacent to the Temple enabling us to enlarge our footprint and the scope of our dreams. The Temple now owns the entire 3.9-acre city block between Wilshire Boulevard on the south, Sixth Street on the north; Harvard Boulevard on the east and Hobart Boulevard on the west.
The Temple redevelopment project will reverse many years of deterioration. We will expertly preserve a magnificent example of early 20th-century architecture and ensure that Wilshire Boulevard Temple members will continue to worship, study and celebrate in their historic home. With a restored and renovated sanctuary, we will begin the process of becoming the “cityschul,” a vibrant urban congregation in the diverse tapestry of our city.
Scope of the Project
The estimated cost of restoring the Sanctuary and improving our Temple property to accommodate convenient parking, security, a parenting center, nursery school, religious school, children, young families and the many who wish to pray and celebrate their most important moments at our historic campus will exceed $125 million for which we have secured to date approximately $70 million in gifts and pledges.
The project will be divided into two phases. Phase I includes restoring and updating the Sanctuary, Foyer, Piness Auditorium and other historic components of the original Temple as well as a six-story parking structure and a social services facilities; and new construction on a nursery school building. Phase II includes the renovation of our current school building to house a state-of-the-art elementary school, with classrooms to double as religious school classrooms on Sundays. Phase II also includes new construction on administrative building on Wilshire Boulevard and Harvard featuring multi-purpose rooms, a large and dramatic social hall, an administration center, café, lounge, mikvah and spacious upper and lower interior courtyards .
The Need
We must undertake this project to restore our Sanctuary to its original grandeur and to create a Temple Campus that meets the needs of a resurgent urban Jewish population in an equally resurgent City. Our Temple is a landmark for the entire Jewish community and an architectural treasure in a city with precious few great monuments. The Sanctuary was a gift from our ancestors. We have an obligation not to squander that gift, or sell it to others, but rather, to breathe new life and love into it.
Our goal is not to become the biggest congregation in Los Angeles, but to become the best we can be. The unique combination of an urban campus, a suburban campus and our camps gives us an unprecedented opportunity in American synagogue life. Those who came before us to create our Temple did not think small. We must not think, build or fund in small ways. We are creating this state-of-the art urban campus with the very best of our past and the best of our future thinking in order to serve our members and the community for the next 100 years and beyond. We are among the most blessed congregations in the world. With generous support from our congregation and friends we will succeed.
