A new Jewish community center will break ground Sunday, starting the construction of a center that is currently housed in a trailer.
A center for Jewish life and learning on the property of the Lubavtich-Chabad Jewish Student and Community Center will break ground Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the center, 2021 NW Fifth Ave.
The new building is expected to open its doors in March 2013.
Rabbi Berl Goldman, director of the Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Student Union and Community Center, said the center offers a place to socialize and a place to turn to for help.
Michael Ginzburg, 19-year-old mechanical engineering freshman, said he goes to the community center because Chabad feels like home to him.
David Kadosh, a 19-year-old physics sophomore, said he also feels Chabad is a second home. He said Goldman and his wife are like a second family.
“I can ask them for help or anything I need while I'm here," Kadosh said.
Ginzburg said he doesn’t mind that some of the center’s activities take place in trailers.
“It's held in a trailer, but it's not what you think. It's not a small trailer. It holds a lot of people,” Ginzburg said. “The space is large enough.”
He said having a building will help build an even stronger sense of community and entice more people to go to the center.
"I feel like the new facility will make Chabad a lot more established. Right now, it doesn't have a nice house like Hillel,” Ginzburg said. “The new center will make it more established and attract more people."
Goldman said Chabad uses other locations for some of its events.
“Having the trailer has given us more space. It has been good because now there is one big room where everyone can meet,” Kadosh said. “I think it has brought us together a bit because we're all looking forward to the new building."
After an expected year of construction, the final building will be a two-story building of about 23,000 square feet.
It will include a traditional Synagogue, library and study lounge, among other features.
“Our main purpose here in Gainesville is to provide a safe haven and a positive location for Jewish life and learning for the Jewish students and community in Gainesville,” Goldman said. “We believe every single person, regardless of observance or affiliation, should have a place where they feel comfortable to grow physically and spiritually.”
