E. Bay federation still searching for its dream campus

According to Ami Nahshon, a brand new building isn't worth much if you don't have quality programs to fill it. The longtime executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay feels he already has the programming.

But he wants a new building to house them.

Nahshon and the federation president, Marjorie Wolf, are determined to land a site for a Jewish campus in Alameda County and begin fund-raising within two years. Currently housed in a rented Oakland suite, the federation is nearing the $40 million mark in its not-quite-2-year-old drive to expand its endowment by $100 million by 2005.

Earlier this year, however, federation officials ran into the barrage of roadblocks typifying a proposed Berkeley construction project when they sought approval for a $20 million multipurpose facility on the current site of the Ashby BART station parking lot. Not surprisingly, that project hasn't made it off the drawing board.

"It's still up in the air. The political process around that is a very lengthy one. There are competing voices in the city of Berkeley, and there's a very strong voice for affordable housing and I can certainly understand that," said Nahshon. "It is something of a long shot for a community service entity like ours to try and develop a BART station. It doesn't happen every day. We'll be patient and hang in there."

The Ashby site would meet a good number of Nahshon's criteria for a federation dream facility. Inspired by the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center campus in Walnut Creek, Nahshon would like to build an Alameda County campus that would house a JCC, a health and fitness facility, cafes, a library, a theater and perhaps even a day school or two. Nahshon believes such a structure would be best utilized in the Oakland-Berkeley-Piedmont corridor, which he says is home to 50 percent of the East Bay's Jews.

Nahshon points out that when it comes to finding a new location, the needs of the federation's service providers come first. Those include the Center for Jewish Living and Learning, the federation's educational arm, the Israel Center and the Volunteer Action Center.

"The issue is not where the federation is located. The federation is fine. The real key is where the service agencies are located, how adequate their facilities are at delivering their programs," he said. "In the Alameda side of the service area, we have a number of important service providers in facilities that are either too small or out of date. If the federation can help those institutions find a way to collaborate and secure more adequate, well-located space, the federation will gladly be a part of that."

This may be accomplished by the construction of a federation campus, or even a series of campuses throughout the East Bay, creating a number of "sub-regional hubs."

Although the search is on for new and improved facilities, Nahshon emphasizes that it is not a desperate search. His top focus remains on the programs, with a special emphasis on Jewish learning.

While Nahshon is a strong proponent of Jewish day schools, he stresses that the vast majority of the community's children won't have the opportunity to attend one.

"I still believe the bulk of the kids will get most of their education at afternoon Hebrew school. And that's tough -- the kids come home tired each day and the teachers are mostly part-time. Nationally, weekend and afternoon synagogue schools have problems. My hope is over the next few years to begin experimenting with some ways to make a more powerful Hebrew school education."

He would like to see those classes taught at the federation's future Berkeley-Oakland-Piedmont campus, however.

"We would love, two years from now, to have a location tied up, be doing some pre-development work and be in the state where we can go out and begin to raise money," he said. "Marjorie Wolf has established that goal for her two-year term, and I think that it's just about right."