Our Building-Our Future: Mah Nishtanah?

Why is this time different? 

The excitement generated by the Exodus of Egypt is a true testimony of faith and Divine-Human partnership.

Every year we prepare ourselves and our homes for the celebration of Pesach. There are memories from the past and joy for a refreshed opportunity to bring new customs and to refresh our spirits when the Spring Holiday of Freedom is coming.

Mah Nishatnah? How is this year different? As an extended family at Or Hadash, we have walked our own desert in a nomadic way, from social halls to churches, to Jewish day schools and high school. We have invited and still invite all those who are physically hungry and spiritually looking for a home to be part of our open tent. We have been telling our story and asking many different questions. We have been working very hard to move each step forward.

Mah Nishtanah? Why is this year different for our Or Hadash family? Because we are sitting around our table knowing that we have now a permanent home, a home we will build with and for each one of us. Each person counts and we count on each one of you. The Exodus was filled with questions, uncertainty and anxiety but hope and faith illuminate the light within the people.

This is an invitation to be part of this journey and to help us build a dream come true.

Pesach Kasher v'Sameach!

Rabbis Analia & Mario

Our Building-Our Future: Building Progress Report

During the past nine months, we have had the honor of leading the capital campaign to help our Or Hadash community realize the vision of a new home. From our congregation's beginning, the culture and values of our community have been clear-- the importance of belonging to a truly spiritual community, the comfort of knowing there are others to celebrate times of joy and provide support at times of sadness, the exuberance of music and prayer, and the endless possibilities of learning, regardless of age or background. Like our unique community, it was clear from the start that our capital campaign and the building we create would also need to be uniquely Or Hadash - a home for communal worship, shared simchas, a place to break (and make) bread, watch our children grow into mensches and Jewish leaders, study, schmooze, or simply meditate in a spiritual Jewish space.

With the involvement of the majority of our community to date, we have been able to raise over $4 million. While cause for celebration, we are not "there" yet. As a community which respects the importance of each member, we look to each of our members to stand up and say "Hineni" and be a part of what we are building together. Excited by the vision of our new home which has engaged over 240 of our members, the input of an incredible building committee, and our two creative and visionary architects, we now turn back to our community to help us finish the task of raising the funds to realize our new spiritual home.

For those of you who have not yet participated in our efforts, we ask you to join in to help make our dream a reality. To those who have already pledged--THANK YOU! If you are able to add to your pledge or would consider adding a 6th year to your commitment, it will help us close the gap between what we have raised so far and what we need to finish the job.

Many of us started this Or Hadash journey seven years ago, with much uncertainty. Today we are a vibrant spiritual community on the threshold of realizing a spiritual home we can call our own. Thank you to everyone who has helped us to get to this point and thank you to those who are now stepping up to say "Hineni" and help us get the rest of the way.

B'shalom,

Abby Friedman and Harry Heiman

Melinda and Steve Wertheim

Our Building-Our Future: Our New Home

What’s happening with our building? - Looking ahead to Sunday, February 27

What Will I See at the Town Hall Meeting?

This Sunday’s Town Hall meeting will be the first opportunity for many Or Hadash members to see the innovative and exciting vision for our new synagogue. Our architects (Brian Bell and David Yocum) will  present floor plans, elevations, sections and 3-D views which illustrate the overall look and feel of the proposed design, show each space in the building, and define the relationship of these spaces to one another. Their design transforms a utilitarian building into a beautiful, spiritual, welcoming Jewish home for our congregation.

Estimating the Cost of Construction

Brian and David have also been considering what materials, building systems, lighting, acoustics, fixtures, and landscaping to use in the new building. They have met weekly with the Building Committee to share,  discuss, and evaluate each of the many details of the design. And to help estimate (in advance) the cost of building a new spiritual home, all of this information, the Schematic Design package, was submitted to Gay Construction (http://www.gayconstruction.com).

The Board selected Gay Construction to provide construction cost estimates at critical stages of the project, Schematic Design being the first, and to help identify areas where we can save money without sacrificing quality. An established Atlanta contractor with many years of experience working with synagogues, churches, schools and other non-profit organizations, Gay Construction has completed a number of adaptive reuse projects similar in scope to ours.

The Schematic Design documents provided to Gay Construction several weeks ago included essentially every building requirement, wish and dream that the congregation provided to Brian and David during the programming phase. What we learned at this first pass at cost estimating, is that we would all like more than we can afford.  So for the past couple of weeks, the Building Committee, architects and contractor have been working to create design scenarios that more closely match our budget. This is hard work and involves compromise on all sides. It also involves a little bit of predicting the future of our congregation: How much more money can we raise? How fast will we grow? How much will the design of the new building affect our growth and the lives of our members?

Where Are We Now and What Comes Next?

From the outset, we have been seeking a delicate balance between what we can afford and what must we do to make the potential of a new congregational home a reality. To meet this need, Brian and David have been exploring a variety of options, options that range from less elaborate building features and finishes all the way to a phased building program, where we build what we can afford now with a clear master plan for the next stage(s) of building.

The architects will develop these alternate schemes through the next phase, Design Development. At that point the Board will determine the Total Project Budget. The total budget must allow for the purchase price of the land, and the cost of building construction, landscaping, building permits, fees, and fixtures, furniture and equipment. This dollar amount will represent what the Board determines to be a prudent and reasonable expenditure for our congregation. Once all the information is at hand, the Board will make a decision as to which path to take.

Throughout the process, the Building Committee and the Board have been delighted by the innovative, vibrant, and creative designs Brian and David have presented to us. We look forward to sharing their ideas and plans with you at our Town Hall meeting this Sunday, February 27, 9:30 AM.

The Building Committee
February 23, 2011

What’s Happening With Our New Building?

Many of you met our architects Brian Bell and David Yocum (http://www.bldgs.org/) at the community meeting last October. Since then, they’ve been very busy completing several preliminary, but critical tasks. In addition to measuring and documenting the existing conditions of the building and grounds at our Trowbridge Road site, they have compiled a Program Document and developed the Schematic Design. This article will describe these architectural terms more fully and bring you up-to-date with what’s happening on our new building.

One of Brian and David’s first jobs included coordinating with several project consultants - structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers, the landscape architect, and an acoustical engineer.  The input of the acoustical engineer was especially important because North Springs High School football games will overlap with Friday night services about 6 times each year. Our new home must be designed to temper that outside noise as well as provide the acoustics needed for the music in our sanctuary.

In addition to documenting current conditions and coordinating with consultants, our architects began gathering information about synagogues. They met with Or Hadash members, committees and staff and reviewed the 113 responses to the Fall 2010 Congregation Or Hadash New Building Survey. They also toured area synagogues, studied synagogue design, and discussed synagogue security with Federation officials.

Using the gathered information, Brian and David established a Space Program. A Space Program is a list of all required and desired spaces and the size and specific requirements for each of those spaces. Parameters used to define a synagogue building’s space requirements include finishes, lighting, ritual uses, and building code implications. Combining both the preliminary information with the Space Program, Brian and David developed a 200-page Program Document, a comprehensive written definition of the scope of the building project. This document was reviewed and approved by the COH Board.

Once this preliminary work was completed, Brian and David began Schematic Design. It is during this exciting phase that a building really starts to take shape. Schematic Design involves creating floor plans and elevations, and more fully developing each of the areas or sections within the building. During this phase the architects begin to identify what materials will be used in the different rooms and spaces, and provide details about the heating and air-conditioning systems, the lighting for various areas, acoustics, and landscaping.  As you can see in the preliminary sketch below, the design for our new building includes an interior courtyard.    

As part of the Schematic Design phase, Brian and David are creating a series of both virtual and 3-D building models. They are meeting regularly with the Building Committee and will make presentations to the Board at appropriate intervals. Brian and David will present their design to the congregation at a town hall meeting on Sunday, February 27, 9:30 AM.

    
As many of you know, our new synagogue building will be what is called an adaptive re-use of an existing building. Future articles will explain the challenges and opportunities of using an adaptive re-use building and current plans to make our new synagogue home sustainable and eco-friendly. We will also discuss such details and concepts as interior design, selection of furniture, fixtures and ritual objects, cost-estimating, landscaping, etc. If you have questions, thoughts, feedback, or other ideas for columns, please let us know.

We look forward to sharing with you,

The Building Committee

January 20, 2011