Construction is underway on the Spadina Road site just north of St Clair that will soon be the biggest newly built synagogue in Toronto for 45 years.
"It’s a very detailed building," says developer Sam Mizrahi. "The architectural style is a replica of the
synagogue in Jaslo, Poland that was destroyed in the war by the Nazis."
The Orthodox synagogue and community centre, to be known as the Temmy Letner Forest Hill Jewish Centre, is being built with complex zinc roof structures, designed by architect
Wayne Swadron, and will include banquet facilities, a learning centre, a Holocaust library, a shul, and a rooftop
sukka.
The funders have been largely Ashkenazi families who were in some way affected by the Holocaust.
"It's actually been quite pleasingly well received," Mizrahi says. "We've done many custom homes in Forest Hill, and this has the same set of values and concerns in terms of neighbours and the community, including keeping the site clean, and building in a very tight space."
Mizrahi, who is also building
181 Davenport, expects the Letner centre to be finished by November.
Writer: Bert Archer
Source: Sam Mizrahi