{"id":37975,"date":"2011-11-13T14:18:41","date_gmt":"2011-11-13T22:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=37975"},"modified":"2011-11-14T21:29:13","modified_gmt":"2011-11-15T05:29:13","slug":"yisroel-pensack-work-to-begin-tomorrow-on-1-6-million-upgrade-of-san-francisco-orthodox-synagogue-social-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=37975","title":{"rendered":"Yisroel Pensack: Work to Begin Tomorrow on $1.6 Million Upgrade of San Francisco Orthodox Synagogue’s Social Hall Building"},"content":{"rendered":"

Congregation Chevra Thilim, which describes itself as “San Francisco\u2019s oldest Orthodox congregation<\/a>,”\u00a0has announced that construction\u00a0will begin tomorrow\u00a0on a $1.6 million\u00a0project to renovate\u00a0and\u00a0upgrade\u00a0its\u00a0large\u00a0social hall building.\u00a0The\u00a0project, expected to be mostly\u00a0completed\u00a0by next September in time for Rosh Hashanah,\u00a0will\u00a0include a new floor and ceiling,\u00a0a new expanded kitchen,\u00a0new offices, three new classrooms and new bathroom facilities, according to congregation president David Kimel.\u00a0The money to fund this\u00a0work has already been raised, Kimel said.<\/p>\n

The project\u00a0is the first part of what was originally announced<\/a> during Yom Kippur services in September, 2009, as a\u00a0$4.5 million, two-stage\u00a0synagogue renovation. The estimated cost of the social hall building renovation, according to that\u00a0original 2009 announcement by congregation vice president Jay Bakaler,\u00a0was $2 million.\u00a0Earlier that month, Rebbetzin Chani Zarchi\u00a0had said\u00a0the congregation hoped to begin\u00a0work\u00a0perhaps as early as March of 2010\u00a0to take advantage of a\u00a030 percent decline in construction costs attributable to the general economic downturn.<\/p>\n

The other stage\u00a0of the congregation’s\u00a0plan calls for\u00a0renovation and\u00a0partial reconfiguration\u00a0of\u00a0Chevra Thilim’s\u00a0large\u00a0sanctuary, work which in 2009 was estimated to cost $2.5 million.\u00a0Kimel today said there is\u00a0currently no start date scheduled for that phase of the project.\u00a0He said\u00a0plans to move a synagogue wall and add a costly\u00a0enclosed\u00a0entrance lobby and large bay windows will probably be dropped.\u00a0The sanctuary renovation was originally announced as the first stage\u00a0of the project, but\u00a0the\u00a0sequence\u00a0has since been reversed.<\/p>\n

(Disclosure: I live near Congregation Chevra Thilim and often\u00a0attend\u00a0religious services and other events there.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congregation Chevra Thilim, which describes itself as “San Francisco\u2019s oldest Orthodox congregation,”\u00a0has announced that construction\u00a0will begin tomorrow\u00a0on a $1.6 million\u00a0project to renovate\u00a0and\u00a0upgrade\u00a0its\u00a0large\u00a0social hall building.\u00a0The\u00a0project, expected to be mostly\u00a0completed\u00a0by next September in time for Rosh Hashanah,\u00a0will\u00a0include a new floor and ceiling,\u00a0a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1161,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1029,209,18818],"tags":[28209,28207,28208,19144],"class_list":["post-37975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-orthodoxy","category-san-francisco","category-synagogue","category-yisroel-pensack","tag-1-6-million","tag-congregation-chevra-thilim","tag-social-hall","tag-upgrade"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t