Ever since BIAV purchased a church and moved into the building at 9900 Antioch Road in Overland Park in the late 1980s, its members talked about renovating the sanctuary. After almost 30 years, the sanctuary has been renovated and was ready to use for Yom Kippur.
“We have been discussing the remodel since the purchase of the building,” said Brenda Rosenthal, who chaired the remodeling project with Davey Wajcman. “There have been many iterations and plans.”
Through the years, other parts of the building have been updated. Those include changing the layout of the rest of the floor — switching the beit midrash (study area) with new offices for the rabbi and administrative staff, and updating both areas with new windows, carpet, paint and lighting.
“I heard the history of renovation discussions and building project fundraisers over the years,” BIAV President Eva Sokol said. “None of this would have been possible without the deep history of discussion, preparation and architectural planning done in advance of this project.”
According to Sokol, the most recent project involved completely gutting the sanctuary. The renovation involved staining the pews and upholstering new cushions with new fabric, painting and retexturing the walls, replacing the carpet and adding new support structures. In addition, the aron hakodesh (ark), bimah and ner tamid (eternal flame) were all refurbished and relocated on the eastern wall.
“The seating reorientation to the east has made a major, positive impact,” Sokol said. “The more intimate layout brings everyone closer to the action of the service and will help elevate our prayers to the next level as we stand facing Jerusalem. We now have a spiritual home that our congregation can be proud of.”
The final touches included installing new contemporary lighting and ceiling fans. In addition to the sanctuary, main bathrooms were remodeled.
Rosenthal explained the BIAV board “finally decided to take the leap three years ago and had plans drawn up to change the sanctuary.” The first phase of the project was decided upon in February 2018, and the project commenced early last summer.
“The timing was finally right, and the scale of the project was appropriate for our current needs and budgetary constraints,” Sokol noted. “We were able to accomplish this phase of the renovation by Yom Kippur, using a gift bequeathed to BIAV by the estate of Max and Irene Wurzburger for the purpose of a renovation. BIAV was their passion and with this new worship space, we honor their legacy. The shul was at the very top of their priority list, and for that we need to be forever grateful.”
Sokol said the sanctuary renovation was completed for under $100,000, which was the budget allotted by the BIAV board of directors for this portion of the project.
“We embarked on this project for the benefit of current and future generations and to honor those who came before us,” Sokol said.
Before the sanctuary remodeling project began, new lighting and ceiling tiles were added to the gym, she said, “making temporary services there more pleasant as the sanctuary remodel was undertaken.”
Sokol said she had never expected to take on a project of this magnitude during her presidency and if she had been asked about the possibility, she would have laughed.
“Nevertheless, as I thought the project through it became crystal clear to me that the BIAV community deserves this,” she said. “We definitely moved in the right direction, both literally and figuratively! Even though this project felt all consuming at times, it was planned and executed while everything else at BIAV continued along as it normally would.”
Sokol thanked Rosenthal and Wajcman for their hard work in shepherding the project.
“They made a dramatic impact on an extremely tight budget, for which we did not fundraise from the congregation,” she said. “Those two leaders don’t take breaks and their energy is boundless. We can all learn from them. I know I did.”
Sokol said it was important to note that in addition to Rosenthal and Wajcman, several others offered their expertise and helped with the sanctuary renovation, including Chase Sheibler with lighting, Zalman Mullakandov with contractor oversight and guidance and Bruce Smith with carpentry.
“There were also numerous committee members who provided opinions and recommendations for each decision,” Sokol said.
A separate committee is now planning a rededication of the remodeled sanctuary for later this spring.