Roth JCC in Maitland wraps up renovations

It’s a Friday afternoon on a hot summer day at the Roth Jewish Community Center of Greater Orlando in Maitland. Camp children are jumping, splashing and swimming in the Center’s newly resurfaced swimming pool while parents sit nearby on new pool chairs, watching their children from the shaded comfort of recently added canopies.

This new pool area is part of a $400,000 renovation project under way at the Maitland JCC this summer, designed to improve the aesthetics of its 40-year-old facility.

The Roth JCC is a Maitland-based organization dedicated to building community involvement, strengthening family life and promoting Jewish values. Located at 851 N. Maitland Ave., the JCC also offers camps and a variety of year-round programs that include sports, fitness, aquatics and art classes for both youth and adult ages. Also apart of the Roth JCC is the Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center, an award-winning preschool open to anyone in the community. Visit orlandojcc.org

The Roth JCC Renovation Project started with the resurfacing of one of its three preschool playgrounds, said David Wayne, project committee member and executive director of the JCC.

“Once we did this, it sparked our interest to continue renovating and improving our facilities,” he said. “Then, our board of directors, along with input from some community leaders and JCC donors, came up with the concept for the project. It’s become a community effort to raise the funds to complete it.”

The renovation includes the resurfacing of the courtyard playground with synthetic grass, an update to the swimming pool area, installing new dividers in the Harriett & Hymen Lake Cultural auditorium, updating the Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center entrance, and resurfacing both outdoor basketball and tennis courts. All of it should be completed by Sept. 1.

So far the reactions have been very positive, said Daniel Coultoff, project committee member.

“I get comments all the time about how great everything looks,” Coultoff said. “Members have seen it as a greatly improved membership value.”

Currently the Roth JCC serves 20,000 people annually, but there’s been a slight increase in participation since the renovations began.

Ultimately the goal is to attract new members from the community and provide the existing 900 members with an aesthetically upgraded facility.

“These improvements were desperately needed,” said Rona Weiss, a member of the Roth JCC for more than 12 years. “The pool area looks fresh and has already become a more popular place for families to hangout.”

To donate money for the renovation project, visit orlandojcc.org/RRP

To fund the project, the Roth JCC received a $250,000 low-interest loan from the Jewish Capital Alliance of Central Florida, an organization looking to financially support new capital and programming needs in the Jewish community. To date, the Roth JCC renovation campaign has raised $218,000 in donations. The goal is to raise $182,000 more to pay the loan and cover the total $400,000 project costs.

“With the continued financial support from our community, we’ll be able to reach our goal,” Wayne said.