Concept Review Dec 13th
In July, our community embarked on the journey to create a conceptual design for a new spiritual home for Bonai Shalom on the Boulder Jewish Commons. On December 13 starting at 7 PM MT, we will have a community meeting on Zoom and hopefully in-person at Bonai Shalom as well (please check the website for updates as the meeting date approaches) to share the Concept Plan that evolved from the community input provided and the collaborative work of the Bonai Shalom New Building Committee with our architectural team at Finegold Alexander Associates (FAA). We anticipate this meeting will last for 1.5 - 2 hours.
The meeting will include a review of the design process to date, a presentation by FAA of the Concept Design Plan, a presentation of the initial project cost estimate, and a discussion of the project’s next steps. Seeing the Concept Design Plan and project renderings will allow us as a community to better imagine the look, feel, and functionality of a new building and the transformative opportunities it could present.
With continued community support and generous donation commitments, we will move forward with the next steps of project design to strengthen our community by creating a sustainable, sacred community gathering place for us and generations to come.
While we have not yet started a formal Capital Campaign to support the construction of a new building, if you are seeking opportunities to make year-end charitable gifts and feel moved to support more than the ongoing operations of our Bonai community, please get in touch with Bruce Wildman to discuss making a capital donation towards the New Building project.
Please join us for this exciting Community Meeting on December 13th starting at 7pm MT
Bonai Shalom New Building Committee
Liz Hanson, Gary Jacobs, Jeff Gan Levy, Rabbi Marc Soloway, Ron Squarer, Bruce Wildman
Exploring a New Bonai Building: Current Status
- Nothing has been decided yet – your input matters!
- Bonai Shalom is working to evaluate the possibility of building a new synagogue campus because:
- The offer of land on the commons has a fixed reasonable time window for Bonai to take action
- The current building is struggling to accommodate the current demands of the community for programming and worship space
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The current building has flooded three times in the last 12 months and was prone to floods before that as well
- The Board of Directors authorized explorations into the possibility of building a new synagogue campus on approx. 2.25 acres on the Boulder Jewish Commons across Cherryvale Rd. from Bonai’s current location.
- Finegold Alexander Architects (FAA) have been hired to facilitate community visioning about what may be possible with a new synagogue campus.
- FAA’s deliverable will be an architectural concept plan that will used to determine if there is adequate community support to move forward with the vision of the new synagogue campus.
- In-person and Zoom community meetings were held on July 13th and 14th in which congregants had the opportunity to share their visions, desires, hopes and dreams for a new synagogue campus.
- Since that time, FAA has been working to (1) distill that feedback into a set of Guiding Principles to guide their design work, (2) to understand the various site characteristics, opportunities, and constraints that may impact where a building is situated on the land, and (3) how the communities hopes and dreams translate into programmatic elements and space needs.
- A congregation-wide community meeting will take place via Zoom on August 24th from 7pm-9pm. FAA will be presenting the Guiding Principles, their initial work on Sustainability and Site Considerations, and Space Programming Concepts. Congregant feedback will be solicited. This meeting will be recorded and available for viewing after the meeting for those unable to attend.
- A sneak peak version of the Guiding Principles that FAA came up with is here.
- For updates as the process moves forward, check the Bonai Shalom “New Building Project” website - https://www.bonaishalom.org/new-building.html.