The Isaac Solomon Synagogue, once the spiritual center of the Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society, has been turned over to its owner by the foundation that sought for years to restore and repurpose the historic structure.
Eugene Kay, the last chairman of the JCRS Isaac Solomon Historic Synagogue Foundation — which until early last year had a 90-plus year lease on the building — told the Intermountain Jewish News this week that in late 2012 the foundation forfeited that lease, returning control of the former synagogue to the Rocky Mountain School of Art and Design (RMCAD), current owners of the campus that was once home to the JCRS in Lakewood.
The art school hopes to eventually transform the small but architecturally significant synagogue into a gallery for student artwork as well as a memorial to the predominately Jewish population that once sought treatment for tuberculosis at JCRS.
After years of raising funds and grant money, and making significant progress on repairing and restoring components of the building, Kay said the foundation concluded that the challenge of full restoration was simply too tough to overcome.
Remaining restoration costs for the synagogue — primarily for interior projects — are estimated at $450,000.
“It wouldn’t have been a lot of money for History Colorado,” Kay said, “but they had already given us the money to fix up the outside.”
Efforts to raise funds from the city of Lakewood proved unsuccessful, as did, to any significant degree, appeals to the Denver Jewish community, which never showed serious interest in the project, according to Kay.
“We didn’t think we could get the Jewish community excited enough for a building in that location,” Kay said.
“If people are going to take a tour of Jewish Denver, they’re going to go to the Mizel Museum or the JCC, not the West Side.”
The foundation also looked at the possibility of moving the structure.
“You can move any building,” Kay said. “It’s just a question of how, but this building is of such a design that you’d literally have to take it apart brick by brick.”
Moving the building from its historic original location would not only have been forbiddingly expensive but also would have meant losing its historical landmark designation and the many benefits that accompany that.
After private financing proved difficult to secure, the foundation felt the only remaining option was to forfeit its lease, returning the structure to RMCAD which bought the JCRS campus in 2002 from the AMC Cancer Research Center, successor of the JCRS.
The original JCRS synagogue was built in 1911, seven years after JCRS opened, by Isaac Solomon whose son Jacob had died of tuberculosis. After that building was destroyed by fire, the current synagogue, made of red brick in a Moorish design, was opened in 1926.
It has an undeniable connection to Denver Jewish history, Kay said.
“They treated about 10,000 people there and most of them were Jewish,” he said, adding that the JCRS history is colorful, vividly illustrating the dividing lines between Denver’s East Side and West Side communities, its poorer and wealthier components and the cultural divide between Jewish immigrants from Germany and Eastern Europe.
Despite the richness of that history, however, he noted the difficulty for an already hard-pressed community to come up with the resources needed to fully restore and then maintain a historic structure. The Jewish community “is always looking forward” and seldom backward, Kay said.
Asked whether the turnover of the synagogue is a sad development for Denver Jewry, he acknowledged that in some ways it is.
“We wrestled with that,” Kay said of the foundation board, “but we didn’t really have a choice. There was no real alternative.”
Although the Jewish community has effectively surrendered its hold on the Solomon Synagogue, its owner says it needn’t fear that the historic structure will be lost to them.
Dr. Maria Puzziferro, president and provost of RMCAD, told the IJN this week that the school intends to make good use of the former synagogue while respecting its historic role.
“We were really supportive of doing a museum type of set up,” Puzziferro said.
“It was going to be a very beautiful place but it just wasn’t financially feasible. The synagogue is in pretty bad shape. It needs extensive renovations.”
Renovations will take place, she insists, but it may be a year or two before RMCAD can begin the project in earnest.
“The plan for that building is to restore it into a gallery space that would be dedicated to the history of the campus. We have to prioritize the educational space renovations before we do the gallery, but it’s something we want to do. It’s on our priority list.”
An assortment of artifacts associated with the synagogue — its eternal light, pews, chandelier, ark, doors with Star of David stained glass windows and other items — will be shown similar respect, Puzziferro said, although their final disposition remains undecided.
Some of the material might be turned over to the Mizel Museum of Judaica or Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society, while some might remain where it is.
The marble memorial plaques in the building, for example, might have to stay, since removing them could damage the wall they’re mounted on or the plaques themselves.
“We still have them,” Puzziferro said of the artifacts. “All that stuff is still in the building and we’d like to see it in a safer place. It’s not lit, heated or cooled and those artifacts would be better preserved in a museum.”
What to do with a 10’ x 12’ “patient tent” structure — the last remaining JCRS tent, in which a patient once lived — which has been relocated adjacent to the synagogue, also remains undecided. Puzziferro says it would be willing to donate it to an appropriate Jewish entity.
RMCAD is very open to suggestions from Jews interested in the Solomon Synagogue and JCRS history, Puzziferro said, adding that visitors are always welcome, tours of the campus can be arranged and Jewish events can be held on the campus or in the synagogue.
“We’ve been very passionate and committed to preserving the history of the campus,” she said.
“The Jewish community should rest assured that we’re not going to tear things down. Everything that can be preserved will be preserved. Wherever there’s an interest in discussing the items, just get in touch with me.”
Copyright © 2014 by the Intermountain Jewish News
