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Congregation Schaarai Zedek breaks ground on new wing

parkland estates The work, which should take about 11 months, will add state-of-the-art classrooms.

By ERIC SMITHERS, Times Staff Writer
Published August 31, 2007

Congregation Schaarai Zedek officially broke ground Wednesday morning on a new classroom wing along the Swann Avenue side of the synagogue.

Sherry Stein, director of Life Long Learning, said Wichman Construction has been hired to increase the number of classrooms by seven for the Amy Gail Buchman/Congregation Schaarai Zedek Preschool and Child Development Center and for the Julia M. and Samuel L. Flom Religious School.

Existing classrooms also will be remodeled.

The project is anticipated to take 11 months to complete.

Stein said the new classrooms will let the school offer sessions once on Sundays for students from prekindergarten to ninth grade, as opposed to having to offer the sessions twice.

The rooms will be state-of-the-art and used by preschool students during the week, Stein said, but there are no plans to increase preschool enrollment.

"We're very excited about it," Stein said.

Schaarai Zedek, at 3303 W Swann Ave., has about 970 members, 330 preschool students and 375 in religion school.

Wednesday's groundbreaking ceremony marked the third major construction since the current synagogue was built in 1957 and the first since the addition of four new classrooms in 1994.

Stein declined to say how much the expansion will cost.

[Last modified August 30, 2007, 22:24:32]