Construction has begun

On Oct. 27, 2021, the construction fence went up around the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center site. This can only be a moving sight when there have been four years of daily, weekly, monthly and ad hoc meetings preceding the fence installation. By the time you read this article, the land should be cleared, a deceleration lane should be under construction and more work should be underway farther east of Temple Shalom on Pine Ridge Road.

Construction, at long last, has begun on your new Jewish home, the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center. Rephrasing Sally Field, “It’s really happening, it’s really, really happening!”

The past 18 months have not been average for anyone. Just recently, we reopened our current office for games, classes, movies, meetings and all sorts of other events. We are not stopping our Zoom presentations, as many of us are still being cautious and the space in our current office is severely limited. Hopefully, by next season, we will all feel like going back to “normal.”

Jane Schiff and Jeffrey Feld

Some of us are here all year-round; some are here for over or under 6 months; and some are here for shorter periods of time. No matter the length of time you spend in our paradise, you will have a new hangout for your time here next season.

The Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center will have places to sit and relax. It will have a large hall for the many times when up to 400 of us gather to listen to an author, watch a movie or listen to a special speaker. There will be space to gather before the event, at a break during the event and after the event — different spaces for different times and needs.

Do you want to play cards or mah jongg? Do you need to go to a meeting? Do you want to take tai chi or yoga? How about a class on genealogy, Spanish, journaling or an article in The New Yorker magazine? Are you in a WCA or MCA book club?

We have rooms for all those activities and more, and many activities can be happening at the same time! Parking? No problem. You have an electric vehicle? Plug it in while you attend an activity.

The Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center will be your new home. Comfortable and welcoming, it will be a place for all of us to enjoy and be proud of what we have accomplished. The construction fence was the very first sign of our new home. The groundbreaking was the exciting start of the project. A year from now, when we cut the ribbon and open our doors, we want to invite each person reading this paper to come join us and bask in the glow of the accomplishments of Jewish Federation of Greater Naples through you!

It is for our community and because of our community that we are growing and reaching a new time with a new space for the Jewish community of Greater Naples. See you all at the ribbon cutting in about 12 months!