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Kaiserman JCC Gets $500K
From State for Upgrades
Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer
Photos by Jarrad Saff ren
A quick lap around the Kaiserman
JCC campus in Wynnewood
will leave you with an unmis-
takable impression.

Inside the facility, you will see a worn
basketball court and faded gymnastics
equipment, along with dimmed lights
overhead. And outside, as CEO Alan
Scher himself describes, you will see
“dilapidated fi elds” fi lled with weeds
and bare patches.

The place needs an upgrade, and
now it may be getting one. Or at least
the start of one, according to Scher.

In December, at the JCC’s 50th-an-
niversary party, state Sen. Amanda
Cappelletti, who
represents Kaiserman’s Main Line territory,
presented Scher with a $500,000
check from the state’s Redevelopment
Assistance Capital Program. The grant
program from the Pennsylvania Offi ce
of the Budget goes toward “the acqui-
sition and construction of regional
economic, cultural, civic, recreational
and historical improvement projects,”
according to pa.gov. All grants must
be matched by the institutions that
receive them.

Scher and his board raised money
from donors to match the $500,000,
giving the JCC $1 million for renova-
tions. A state-compiled list of grant
recipients identifi es possible JCC
projects as “boiler replacement, roof
repairs and lighting upgrades.” Bigger
renovations to the gymnasium and
preschool also were listed. Between
those last two, Scher said the Robert
J. Wilf Preschool will likely come fi rst
since it has a waiting list of more than
40 families. Specifi cally, the CEO wants
to start by renovating the preschool
lobby. “It’s an aging infrastructure and facil-
ity,” he said of the early childhood
center. “We want an infrastructure
that’s beautiful and state of the art.”
With the school, Scher believes it’s
vital to have a facility that meets the
quality of the program itself. And he
feels the same way about the JCC
in general. Camp Kef, Kaiserman’s
summer camp, has been full in recent
years, with more than 400 kids. And
the JCC’s gym sees action seven days
a week.

But those who use the JCC can
clearly see its fl aws.

Adam Sherman, a past JCC president
and a resident of Lower Merion for 30
years, described Kaiserman as “a 1995
facility in a 2023 world.” Sherman has
used the JCC for as long as he’s lived
in Lower Merion, and while he now
lives in Florida for half the year, he
still goes to Kaiserman “sporadically”
when he’s on the Main Line. Sherman
plays basketball, and he says the fl oor
is “playable but not great.”
“It needs a refi nishing,” he added.

But Sherman still views the JCC as
“a great location and a great gym.”
And he believes the key to its future
is not so much appealing to evening
and weekend jump shooters and board
crashers, like himself, but to parents
who will send their kids to the preschool,
camp and youth athletic programs.

“If you’re sending your little
5-year-old there, you want to make
sure they can swim in a nice pool, have
a nice fi eld, proper lighting — all that
kind of stuff ,” he said.

Cappelletti also sees the JCC playing
that role. That was a big reason why
she advocated for it even though she’s
not Jewish and doesn’t use it.

“The JCC does a lot of incredible
work in my community,” she said.

“They reach all across Montgomery
County into Delaware County and
Philadelphia County and Southeastern
Pennsylvania.” As evidenced by the additional
$500,000 that Kaiserman raised, it has
people who want to help. Therefore, it
may be best to use the state money for
practical upgrades, like the boiler, the
The preschool lobby inside the Kaiserman JCC in Wynnewood
The gymnasium inside the Kaiserman JCC in Wynnewood
roof and the lights, that will keep the
building open and running, according
to Scher.

As he put it, “Nobody wants to put
their name on a boiler.” Once those
projects are checked off , Scher and his
team can “invest in our strengths,” like
the preschool, he said.

A full-scale upgrade is necessary and
will likely take several years, according
to Scher. The JCC’s goal is to raise an
additional $500,000 in the new fi scal
year, which started in the fall, and it is
already more than halfway there.

“It’s not going to be here tomorrow
but will be in time if we continue to
bring in this kind of investment,” Scher
said of the vision. ■
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
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