Dedicated

By Paul Haist

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It was a time for thank-yous all around, and Mittleman Jewish Community Center President Jordan Schnitzer didn't hold back.

"I am thrilled that after three years we've created again a living room for the Jewish community," he said.

Schnitzer was speaking in the MJCC ballroom before an audience of MJCC supporters, well-wishers and the curious at the May 16 public rededication of the center after three years of financial restructuring and the repair and remodel of the building that houses the center and Portland Jewish Academy.

Three years ago in the spring of 2004 the Jewish Review reported that the center was nearly $3 million in debt with that amount increasing by $60,000 to $70,000 per month. The center's physical plant was in need of major overhaul and membership was in decline.

The May 16 event, along with a May 12 gathering at the same location for major donors, marked the completion of the first phase of the center's $17 million renovation. So far, $13.5 million has been expended, according to Schnitzer.

Schnitzer singled out the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland for critical support in the early stages of what he termed the "dark days," when it was uncertain whether the center could remain open.

"The federation brought in Gary Goldstick for an assessment of the campus, and out of that came a new board," said Schnitzer.

Goldstick is the engineer and consultant who recommended that the center engage an interim director to manage the "winding down" of operations while a new emergency board concentrated on longer-term issues including a vision for the center in the future, and its relationship with Portland Jewish Academy, which occupies part of the MJCC building.

An emergency board of 13 key community leaders was named. Schnitzer, who was named board president, singled them out for praise and gratitude.

"I am merely a stand-in for the fabulous people on our board," he said.

He had special praise for board member Jay Zidell who, with his family and the Schnitzer family, stepped up with initial gifts that helped keep the center out of bankruptcy.

"The community is so lucky to have Jay," said Schnitzer; "he is such a leader."

In acknowledging the many individuals and organizations that helped to rescue the center from financial calamity while also restoring the aging facility and creating a new business model for its future health, Schnitzer noted that it wasn't just the Jewish community that stepped up to the plate.

"We also got some wonderful support outside the Jewish community, which was really a stamp of approval for other foundations," he said, pointing to grants from the Collins Foundation, the Oregon Community Foundation, and the Spirit Mountain Community Fund. Within the Jewish community he also thanked the Friendly Rosenthal Fund.

Schnitzer thanked Bank of the Cascades whose leaders, he said, were willing to work with center on the issue of its debt. "They were wonderful," he said

Others were on hand to commend those who helped to steer the center back on course.

Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman read a proclamation from Mayor Tom Potter naming May 16, 2007, Mittleman Jewish Community Center and Portland Jewish Academy Campus Day in Portland.

The proclamation stated in part: "The board of the Mittleman Jewish Community Center has spent nearly three years working tirelessly to rejuvenate an aging facility and revitalize the MJCC for the benefit or our community..."

Jay Ward from Sen. Ron Wyden's office read a letter from the Oregon Democrat who had attended the major donors' event the preceding Saturday night.

Wyden wrote, "What a transformation you have achieved! We are all able to celebrate tonight because my good friend Jordan Schnitzer and all of the remarkable MJCC board members, Becki Saltzman and the dedicated Portland Jewish Academy board members, and all of you here tonight gave of yourselves to perform an incredible mitzvah to renew this cornerstone of our community."

Portland Realtor Becki Saltzman, recently named president of the PJA board, read a letter from Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski in which the governor called the MJCC "a community treasure" from which "Portland, our entire state and region benefit."

Schnitzer read a letter from Sen. Gordon Smith in which the Oregon Republican announced that he had arranged for an American flag flown over the U.S. Capitol that day to be presented to the MJCC.

In extending his congratulations, Smith cited a young Jewish writer: "'How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment,' wrote Anne Frank in her diary, 'We can start now, start slowly, changing the world. How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution.'"

In the understated elegance of the new ballroom adjacent to the renovated lobby and new kosher cafe, both of the latter featuring a muted color scheme in harmony with the floor of Jerusalem stone, Schnitzer reminded everyone that much remains to be done.

"We are not out of the woods yet," he said, noting with pleasure, however, that center membership stood at 715 since membership was reinstated last fall.

Membership had been suspended during the darkest days of the financial crisis with only some 30 members left on the roster during the hiatus.

The budget for the financially overhauled center had set a target of 600 memberships at initial staffing levels of the overhauled facility.

After the rededication event Schnitzer said, "We need to set a goal of 1,000 members and corresponding staff and programs to support that level."

Among other goals now he pointed to the need to address attendance at PJA. The goal three years was set at 320. Projections point to 250 to 260 students in the near term, said Schnitzer. "So we have room," he said. "We need to work."

Schnitzer wants increased use of the center by outside groups. Wedding parties and other large groups may rent the ballroom, which generates revenue for the center.

He said the center also "needs to address its B'nai B'rith Camp and its funding needs so it can be competitive with new camps that are being developed so it can realize its year-round potential."

In the area of fundraising, Schnitzer said, "We need to raise another $3 million to finish refurbishing the offices, finish replacing the roof, finish the heating, cooling and ventilation system, refurbish the pool area and address the parking lot and landscaping."