Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on August 9, 2017

Park Synagogue East in Pepper Pike is building a pavilion with help from longtime congregants Barbara and Norman Wain. The structure is expected to be complete at the end of August and will have a dedication ceremony for the congregation Sept. 7.

When Norman Wain, a radio industry pioneer who owned multiple stations, agreed to fund the building, its sole purpose was to protect summer camp children from the sun. Then the idea came up to increase the size so the structure could be used for various services.

It started about, I would say about five, six months ago, we started talking about it and then it just grew like Topsy, Wain said. We had committed to doing a shelter for the kids and as it got bigger we kept saying OK, OK, OK.

Once the concrete was poured, the pavilion measured 2,800 square feet, three times larger than the original plan. It will hold up to 300 people. The structure, located by the playground and pool, will be in a prime location to be used by summer campers. It wasnt until the idea of using the structure for outdoor services like weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, and Shabbat that the congregation ignited in support of the pavilion, Wain said.

The same idea for a pavilion was completed by one of Wains friends at a synagogue in Charlotte, N.C.

He reports to me that theyre waiting in line for bar mitzvahs and weddings and everybody likes the idea of an outdoor shelter to have a service, Wain said. So we went along with the idea and we like the concept and we call it the Wain Pavilion.

But this wasnt the first time the idea of a shelter came up to the congregation. Barbara Wain originally pitched the idea in 2011, when she was director of development at Park Synagogue. However, a grant request to build the structure was denied and the project was put on hiatus.

It was cold, we never pursued it, Barbara Wain said. When I married Norman (in 2013) I told him about this project that never got funded. Norman realized it was very important, it was really missing from our ability to serve people and in a safe manner.

The couple talked to Rabbi Joshua Hoffer Skoff, senior rabbi at Park Synagogue, and expressed their desire to fund the project.

Skoff agreed there is a need for the pavilion and supported the idea to expand the structure so it could have various uses and serve as an unconventional teaching setting.

Im very used to having Judaism in an informal type of environment, Skoff said. I certainly saw that Jewish education and learning about life can happen in natural places during a camp season, but also just for adults.

An architects rendering of what the pavilion could look like.

The pavilion will include a fireplace and a temporary bimah, which can be moved inside. A plaque will be placed inside the pavilion to recognize Stephany and Jonathan Bass for their additional contribution to the structure. There are no permanent seating structures; instead seating will be added depending on the event.

Ive been a Park member ever since I came here in 1954, Wain said. Im just happy to add to the facilities here. This is just going to expand Parks ability to do different kinds of events.

Michael A. Bonner, Inc. of Russell Township is the architect for the project.

A cost for the pavilion was not disclosed.

Publishers Note: Norman Wain is a past board chair of the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company Board of Directors.

More:

Wain Pavilion breaks ground at Park Synagogue East - Cleveland Jewish News

Category: Synagogue
Tags: