Construction is wrapping up on the Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo’s facility on Delaware Avenue, the culmination of 18 months of renovations totaling about $800,000 that began in part because of the growing Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
Rick Zakalik, executive director of the community center, said there are many young employees at the campus who have been requesting child care and enrollment in the center’s Early Childhood Center is expected to be more than 150 this year. Five years ago, about 80 children were enrolled.
“The two biggest shortages for the campus are parking and child care,” Zakalik said. “We can’t help with parking but we can with child care.”
Various grants allowed for a total renovation of the second floor of the 64-year-old building, known as the Holland Family Building. Six new classrooms have been completed, and four classrooms are being refurbished, two of which are for infants, he said. All renovations to the Early Childhood Center are expected to be completed by the end of August.
At certain points over the last few years, the childhood center has reached its maximum enrollment and has had to put children on a waiting list. A year ago, the offices of sister agencies on the second floor were moved to the community center’s Getzville location, freeing up 7,500 square feet in the downtown site. The renovations will add about 36 additional spots for children as the center tries to keep up with the expansion of the medical campus.
The campus, which was formed in 2001, has grown rapidly and currently employs more than 12,000 people. It also attracts more than 1 million annual patients and visitors.
“We’ve been growing in part because of the medical campus for almost four years,” Zakalik said.
And this isn’t the first round of renovations to the community center.
Renovations totaling about $1.5 million were completed about four years ago, which turned the basketball court into a fitness facility with cardio and strength-building equipment.
There are about 5,000 members of the community center – a number that Zakalik said has tripled in the last four years.
But soon, the center will have it’s fair share of competition.
LA Fitness plans to open one of four Buffalo-area locations at 1893 Elmwood Ave. near Hertel Avenue.
Construction gegan in May on the 45,000-square-foot facility began in May and is expected to conclude by the end of the year. The facility will include a three-lane, 25-yard lap pool; a full basketball court; and rooms for fitness classes and indoor cycling.
And in January, the Independent Health Family Branch YMCA at 150 Tech Drive in Amherst will open a 94,000-square-foot facility. It will house two 7,700-square-foot gymnasiums, two swimming pools, a fitness center and an indoor running track.
Zakalik said he expects the new YMCA facility to provide more competition to the community center’s location at 2640 North Forest Road in Getzville rather than the Delaware Avenue facility.
And while LA Fitness will be more direct competition to the downtown location, Zakalik said the Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo focuses on education and child care, in addition to exercise.
“There’s a lot of competition,” he said. “But we’re different in that we’re a community center.”
email: jharris@buffnews.com