Nomination for Akron Jewish Center

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

OMB No. 1024-0018 1. Name street & number - not for publication city, town -vicinity of Xstate - county - -district - unoccupied - public - agriculture X building(s) X commercial _ work in progress X educational - private residence X entertainment . religious - in process X yes: restricted - government - scientific - yes: unrestricted . transportation _ other: 4. Owner of Property date August, 1978 - local Ohio 43211 039 Location 10-31-87 Expires Accessible code both museum Category Akron structure Ownership industrial being considered object site Public Acquisition Status Ohio military park historic 175 South Main Street Inventory-Nomination Form Akron Jewish Center Type all entries-complete applicable sections National Register of Historic Places Present Use (3-82) 220 South Balch Partnership 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys National Park Service For NPS use only See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms 3. Classification 5. Location of Legal Description NPS Form 10-900 United States Department of the Interior 227 South Broadway Street and or common date entered 4-24-86 -private city, town Akron - yes X no depository for survey records has this property been determined eligible? Ohio Historical Society 220 South Balch Street 7. Description - excellent _ deteriorated - altered X original site -_ moved .

fair and a half storeys, rendered in a free Romanesque Revival style with strong is defined by a prominent terra-cotta water table, with the main entrance set parapet with a terra-cotta frieze in imitation of corbelling, and A colossal round-arched main entry is set off center to the right.The boldly each side on which rests a Biblical lion form, the boss itself depicting a JEWISH CENTER. Centered above the entry is a double window, each unit with its own spiral- decorated lintel, affording immediate access to the athletic facilities. a wide two-storey terra-cotta panel, surmounted by a blind stilted arch with a consideration of the earlier structure.

Matching brick was used, and the Condition ruins Akron Board of Education, designed this addition in somewhat sensitive Above is astorey-and-a-half round-arched window designating the stair landing Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

floriated square pattern.The entire arch is supported at either side by two and rests at the center on an engaged lonic column.Flanking the window over Check one with brownish-red textured brick laid in American bond.Trim is executed paired windows with:terra-cotta surrounds is repeated on the second floor in the entrance are two large round terra-cotta panels with a Star-of-David first-floor double window whose broad lintel bears a floriated diamond design half-round lonic columns placed at right angles to each other.Four wood up six steps from ground level.The flat built-up roof is hidden by a low ornamented cornice of low profile. Built in 1929,The Akron Jewish Center was designed by the local architectural Fronting a wide double side entryway placed in an ell of this addition and built in 195l,expanding the Center!s classroom and athletic departments.

embellished arch with multiple archivolts springs from a pseudo-purlin boss at symbol.All of the window sash is metal casement. Set at ground level to the left is a subordinate entry with a deep transom and X altered of wood separates the glazed tympanum and is incised with the words AKRON four other of the original six front bays, each time aligned with a trabeated within. At the left of the original facade is a large addition of great depth frieze along the top of the building. Michael M.

Konarski, architect for the terra cotta suggests, in a simplified almost Art Deco interpretation, the - good unexposed ornamented round arch resting on engaged lonic columns.This same device of entirely in flecked grey terra cotta to suggest granite.The raised basement Byzantine influence in its detailing.The building is of masonry construction serving as transition between the old and the new sectionsis a projecting OMB No. 1024-0018 Akron, Summit County, Ohio Item number 7 an Olympic-size swimming pool 25' x 60' finished in white mosaic tile with green trim, with a spectators' gallery and a triple filter system.

addition to offices, meeting rooms, classrooms, and requisite auxiliary rooms to the gymnasium and pool, there were adult lounge rooms, a library, two dining rooms with a complete kitchen, a junior game room, a men's health club with closed handball court, a billiard room, and a laundry. residential street, close to its north lot line on the right but with a street but in line with adjacent houses, allowing a narrow lawn, the former Akron Jewish Center, with its low, restrained facade, continues to sit unobtrusively among its neighbors.

Page (3-82) Inventory-Nomination Form Continuation sheet Akron Jewish Center substantial paved parking area to the south and rear.Placed close to the NPS Form 10-900-a The physical facilities of the interior are impressive and all-encompassing: National Register of Historic Places United States Department of the Interior proscenium stage with ancillary space and dressing rooms; a gymnasium 45'x gymnasium in the 195l addition, with this space then divided for other uses); National Park Service a balconied multi-purpose auditorium seating 1,oo0 people before a full The Center building is situated on a large multiple lot on a wholly - archeology-historic _ conservation - law - agriculture _ economics _ literature X. architecture -education .

commerce -exploration/settlement - - philosophy - 1900- _ communications - politics/government _ invention other (specify) Concert Series, the Akron Civic Forum, often with speakers and artists of Akron architectural firm,: J. Adam Fichter, and Harny A. : Brooker, whose pub.l ic Placed in an older, completely residential neighborhood of modest architectural character, the Center was therefore designed in a straightforward revival style, rather than the popular Art Deco of the time, its exterior openly suggesting its occupancy and use. Through the years, renowned artists such as the Budapest String Quartet and Leonard Rose. The Akron Civic Forum, continuing today as a television and radio show deal ing It caught the interest and acclaim of Northeast Ohioans with such luminaries as Drew Pearson, Edward R. Murrow, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., Robert A.

Taft, auxiliary was formed, and that same year plans were set for a $125,000 building on South Balch Street, with additional land being acquired, where laid; hardly a year later, the Akron Jewish Center was dedicated and opened on September 22, 1929.. 1600-1699 1500-1599 1400-1499 1700-1799 The humanitarian industry transportation engineering Period Specific dates military social/ concert series presented outstanding regional musicians alternating with 8.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance from its own comprehensive Jewish-oriented programming the Center offered to _1800-1899 from the stage of the Center auditorium Although there had been several Hebrew congregations in Akron since the late occasion brought such speakers as Joan Crawford and Mrs.Cyrus Eaton.The .sculpture Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

(in one paragraph) and Eleanor Roosevelt.America's Town Meeting of the Air twice originated -prehistoric Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Criteria A and C Came to Dinner:to "The Diary of Anne Frank," while the Women's Day Program on -science _music --archeology-prehistoric -_community planning cultural, educational, social, recreational, and athletic services. Aside and domestic commissions had been highly visible on the local scene for two :n community, it was the public-event series that constantly drew attention and attendance.. The Theatre Gulld offered its own plays ranging rom "The .Man Who 1800's, it was in 1924 that a small group of prominent Jewish men organized to established, and by April of 1928 $58,000 had been raised, with further and decades, culminating in the ten-storey Akron Y.W.C.A. building in 1930.

1929 art Anshe Emeth Congregation had been meeting.A board of trustees was with subjects of area concern, was begun shortly after the Center's opening. the Center prodigiously fulfilled its intentions of service to the Jewish the general public the vents of its Center Theatre Guild, Sunday Evening the Akron Jewish Center contributed greatly not only to the city's Jewish sufficient funds soon following.On November 4,1928,the cornerstone was In the nearly forty-five years that it was headquartered in this building, community but also to the citizenry at large through its many and varied national repute.The Center:building:itself was a:major work by a premier secure a charter for the building of a Jewish Center.ln 1926 a women's 9.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References Dedication Booklet (September 22, 1929), Akron Jewish Center Interview with George A. Fichter, Son of J. Adam Fichter, Architect Interview, Hyman L. Tabachnick, Executive Director, Akron Jewish Center UT M References and Thirty-two (32), Balch Addition to City of Akron, plotted and recorded in Summit County, Ohio Book 2, Page 42 -_ state 11.

Form Prepared By November 18, 1985 street & number 465 South Portage Path Ohio 44320 As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89 according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register National Register Chief of Registration code Easting organization date county Northing Zone national Akron name/title Entered in the Attest: List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries Quadrangle name Akron West 10. Geographical Data city or town 12.

State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: State Historic Preservation Officer signature 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify thatit has been evaluated Verbal boundary description and justification Lot Nos.Eight Art Work of 8,Gravure Illustration Co.,Chicago For NPs use only Ohio Historic Inventory (1978), #SUM-255-11 (M. Craig Allen) telephone 1-216-535-1120 local Quadrangle scale 1:24000 7-24-86 Acreage of nominated property 1.43 Plus .95 Additional Parking OMB NO.

1024-0018 Item number 8 With changing times and emphasis, the need for larger quarters with a more progress on the physical education facilities, with a December, 1985, opening scheduled for the new Balch Street Athletic Club.

Page Inventory-Nomination Form NPS Form 10-900-a National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Baptist Church, which has occupied it until the present ownership on October United States Department of the Interior 1,1985.The classroom section of the building is being used by the Head (3-82) Akron, Summit County, Ohio expansive, open plan centered mainly on one floor, coupled with the need for Start Program of the Akron Public Schools, and a local community theatre group outside recreation space, led in 1973 to the Center's move to a new building Continuation sheet Akron Jewish Center date entered WASO Form - 177 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ("R" June 1984) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Fed. Reg.

Date: Date Due: _ nomination by person or local government owner objection Federal Agency: _ Jappeal Nomination returned for: _technical corrections cited below _substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? 7. Description J excellent - unaltered - original site Category moved Condition resubmission ruins Accessible good dates REJECT fair sample alterations/integrity completeness Reviewer RETURN Status Discipline deteriorated see continuation sheet summary paragraph clarity boundary selection Summit County Reviewer's comments: 86001919 Present Use Akron Jewish Center Substantive Review: Recom./Criteria Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance Check one Working No.

213/87 NR decision JUN251986 Action: Patered in the J request yes OHIO unexposed Public Acquisition 8. Significance Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) -summary paragraph - clarity - applicable criteria - context 9. Major Bibliographical References Acreage of nominated property 11. Form Prepared By State Historic Preservation Officer signature _ Phone: - GPO 918-450 Builder/Architect Date Signed national completeness state title Maps local Photographs Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Verbal boundary description and justification relating significance to the resource 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification Quadrangle name justification of areas checked 10.

Geographical Data relationship of integrity to significance Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: Specific dates justification of exception UTM References Other Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Period 220 South Balch Street, Akron October, 1985 Akron 465 South Portage Path Akron Jewish Center #1 of 6 Photographs Front Facade, looking West Summit County, Ohio Negative: James A. Pahlau Photographer: Linda Carmany October, 1985 Akron Akron Jewish Center Photographer: Linda Carmany 465 South Portage Path 220 South Balch Street, Akron #2 of 6 Photographs Main Entrance, looking West Negative: James A. Pahlau Summit County, Ohio October, 1985 Negative: James A.

Pahlau Front Facade, looking Northwest Akron Akron Jewish Center #3 of 6 Photographs 465 South Portage Path 220 South Balch Street, Akron Summit County, Ohio Summit County, Ohio October, 1985 Akron Akron Jewish Center 465 South Portage Path Negative: James A. Pahlau #4 of 6 Photographs 220 South Balch Street, Akron South Elevation, looking North Photographer: Linda Carmany October, 1985 Main Entrance, Detail Akron Akron Jewish Center Photographer: Linda Carmany 465 South Portage Path #5 of 6 Photographs Summit County, Ohio 220 South Balch Street, Akron Negative: James A. Pahlau Summit County, Ohio October, 1985 Second-storey Window, Detail Akron Akron Jewish Center 465 South Portage Path #6 of 6 Photographs 220 South Balch Street, Akron Negative: James A.

Pahlau Photographer: Linda Carmany UNITED STATES 7.5 MINUTE SERIES (TOPOGRAPHIC) GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AKRON WEST QUADRANGLE N4100 - W8130/7.5 OHIO-SUMMIT CO AKRON DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AKRON WEST, OHIO Ohio Historic Preservation Office 1985 Velma Avenue Columbus. Ohio 43211 June 18, 1986 Ms. Carol Shull, Chief National Register of Historic Places 1100 L Street, N.W. Dear Carol : St. Joseph's Catholic Church W. Ray Luce State Historic Preservation Office JUN 2 5 1986 614/466-1500 SOCIETY HISTORICAL Enclosures Butler County Resubmission Perry Since Akron Jewish Center Enclosed are two new National Register nominations and one resubmission.All Summit The interior of the Hamilton Cathol ic High School,Butler County was rehabed New Submissions Please contact me if you have any questions. Department of the Interior in accordance with an approved Part ll historic certification.

Hami lton Catholic High School WRL:bp National Park Service Please give substantive reviews to both of the new submissions. OHIO of the appropriate notification procedures have been followed for the new