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12.17.03 -
client update.
National Museum of American Jewish History reaches money
milestone with a $5 million gift.
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02.19.02 - site launch.
Some
elements still under construction. |
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Posted on Wed, Dec. 17, 2003 |
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Museum
reaches money milestone
The National Museum
of American Jewish History is halfway toward its goal for a new
building.
By Douglas J.
Keating
Inquirer Staff Writer
With a $5 million gift from Comcast-Spectacor chairman Edward M.
Snider, the National Museum of American Jewish History announced
yesterday that it had reached the halfway point of its $100
million campaign to construct a new museum building on
Independence Mall.
Snider's gift, combined with a $25 million campaign-opening
donation from philanthropist Sidney Kimmel and two dozen smaller
pledges from museum trustees and others, has enabled the fund
drive to achieve half its goal in a little more than a year.
"That's pretty good. I don't know of many campaigns that have
done that," George M. Ross, cochairman of the fund drive, told
the gathering where Snider's gift was announced.
Snider, whose corporation owns the Wachovia Center, the Wachovia
Spectrum, the Flyers and the Sixers, stressed the importance of
the museum, which chronicles the history and celebrates the
heritage of American Jews. He said he looked forward to the
conclusion of the building campaign.
"I see a glass that is half full, and I hope you do, too," he
said. "I can't wait until we reach the finish line, and I feel
very privileged to be part of the effort."
The five-story, glass-and-stone museum building, designed by
Polshek Partnership Architects L.L.P. of New York, will be
constructed on the site of the museum's present one-story brick
building at 55 N. Fifth St., which is scheduled to be razed next
year. The new building, expected to open in 2006, will feature a
100-foot-high square tower topped by an eight-foot flame
signifying both American freedom and the permanence of the
Jewish people.
About 28,000 of its 80,000 square feet of floor space will be
used for permanent and temporary exhibitions. The present museum
has just 2,600 square feet of exhibition space, which has been
closed for more than a year.
Built by the Mikveh Israel congregation, one of the country's
oldest, the museum opened in 1976 as part of the nation's
Bicentennial celebration. Mikveh Israel's synagogue, which
occupies the eastern end of the present museum building, will
not be torn down.
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Contact staff writer Douglas J. Keating at 215-854-5609 or
dkeating@phillynews.com. |
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