Former synagogue to consolidate Kennedy-Donovan services
Posted By richards on October 9, 2014
October 08, 2014 12:01 AM
NEW BEDFORD The Kennedy-Donovan Center has purchased the former Ahavath Achim synagogue and officials said they are embarking on a $1,475,000 renovation plan to consolidate their facilities to one campus.
"This is a really important time for us," Kevin Rodman Conare, president and chief executive officer of the center, said at Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremonies. The center provides services to infants, children, adults and families with developmental disabilities in Bristol and Plymouth counties.
The renovation plan includes the $425,000 purchase of the synagogue property in November 2013, according to Ann Buono, the center's vice president for development.
The move consolidates operations to one campus, Buono said. The center is located on Hawthorn Street and the synagogue is across the street at the intersection of Hawthorn and County streets.
The project will also preserve the former synagogue, which was built as the Cornelius Grinnell Jr. Mansion in 1828, according to Buono.
Peggi Medeiros, a local historian, said the building is part of the County Street Historic District, a national historical designation that denotes a district, but does not protect individual buildings.
"That's really good news that they're not going to demolish it. That's really exciting news," she said.
"It could not have gone to a better organization," said Rabbi Barry D. Hartman of Orthodox Chavurah Minyan of New Bedford, whose congregation used the building as a synagogue from 1939 to 2012.
"There's a lot of history here," he said.
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