Community gets involved: Louisville’s JTomorrow team outlines progress made on developing The J of the future

JTomorrow! continues to drive meaningful progress as the path to a new J for the Louisville community is charted. Important milestones have been achieved along the way with much more work to be done.
Recently, the community was invited to participate in one of three charrettes – community brainstorming sessions – to review and discuss the plans for the new J. With a goal of seeking input and feedback from J members and non-members across all demographic groups, the charrettes represented an important milestone in the initial phases of developing a utilization plan for the two potential J campus locations, Dutchmans Lane and the Standard Club property.
“We wanted input from the Louisville community and we got it,” said JTomorrow! Chair Jeff Goldberg. “We knew the community wouldn’t be shy about sharing what they wanted and needed, focusing on the key areas of arts and ideas, health and wellness, camp programming, early learning, Jewish learning, youth & teens, and seniors. The information we learned was robust and our Innovation and Engagement Workgroup took that detail and ran with it to develop important preliminary prioritization plans for programs at both campuses.”
The Innovation and Engagement Workgroup, led by Jon Klein and Bill Altman, met several times to review all of the feedback, develop a list of programs and services and begin the critical work of summarizing and prioritizing. The work accomplished by this team builds a strong foundation and platform for all future progress.
“I want to thank the community for coming together and sharing ideas, thoughts and their dreams at the charrettes,” Goldberg said. “A huge thank you to the entire Innovation and Engagement Workgroup, and especially to Jon Klein and Bill Altman, for their leadership, hard work and commitment to the important task of prioritizing what programs our J can and should be delivering to the Louisville Jewish community.”
Additional members of the Workgroup include Summer Auerbach, Craig Greenberg, Michael Fraade, Carol Levitch, Mark Prussian, Marc Rothman, Amy Ryan, Shane Shaps, Ted Smith, Carrie Syberg, Michael Trager-Kusman, Aaron Yarmuth and Lior Yaron.
Another recently established team is the Facilities Work Group, led by Laurence Nibur. Its objective is to review and make recommendations for the functional requirements of our future J as it relates to both campuses. The work group will seek approval of the JCL Board of Directors for its final recommendation
“We’re at a pivotal time in the Louisville Jewish Community,” said Nibur. “The work and outcomes provided by the Innovation and Engagement Work Group are giving our team a great starting point. Pricing these outcomes and determining our community’s appetite to support them is a critical part of this journey. What we ultimately recommend be built needs to be what is right for the community from the size, functionality and location, based on what our community has committed to support. I’m excited to be a part of this journey.”
Additional members of this team include Andy Blieden, Mark Blieden, Jon Fleischaker, Aly Goldberg, Jon Goldberg, Jay Klempner, Robin Miller, Chuck O’Koon and Bill Ryan.
The JTomorrow! Steering Committee is an active team, meeting monthly and oftentimes convening for weekly conference calls. Additional achievements to date include:
• Held one-on-one meetings with JCL and JTomorrow! leadership and board of rabbis and cantors, congregation leadership and JFCS;
• Established Communications, Legal and Capital Campaign Work groups. A financial sub group was established as part of the Facilities Workgroup;
• Created preliminary site plan drawings and artistic renderings. Professional staff worked with a local architectural firm to create initial concept of new J facilities;
• Selected and engaged David Valinsky Associates, LLC for Capital Campaign feasibility scan; and
• Identified and engaged potential corporate partners and developers in relation to both campuses.
Goldberg and the JTomorrow! Steering Committee will continue to provide regular community updates on the project, which will result in a legacy center for future generations.