After a long stay in the basement of Hendricks Chapel, Hillel of Syracuse University will finally have a place to call home.

Hillel executives and officers of the Jewish Student Union will attend an exclusive tour of the new Winnick Hillel Center at 2 p.m. today. The center will officially open to the public this June after nine months of construction by the Syracuse-based firm, Hueber-Breuer, and will be ready for students returning in the fall.

“Over 3,000 Jewish students on campus will finally have a place to serve all their needs,” said Joel MIller, Hillel executive director. “There’s been a desire for Hillel to have its own facility for a very long time.”

The three-floor, 16,000-square-foot center, which is located on the corner of Harrison and Walnut streets, will house a Kosher dining facility, a library, a computer center, a fitness facility, an auditorium, student offices and a lounge and game area, MIller said.

Loren Knaster, president of the Jewish Student Union, said he anticipates the center to be an excellent asset to the SU Jewish community and may help revive Hillel.

“We’ll finally have our own sanctuary, and it will have a tremendous impact on Hillel, “ said Knaster, a sophomore broadcast journalism major. “It’s the last step to the organization coming together.”

Knaster added that the opening of the new center may also greatly increase the number of incoming freshmen who join the organization.

Final plans for the center were created after a $2 million donation by SU alumni Karen and Gary Winnick, MIller said. Other alumni began a campaign to raise the rest of the total $6 million needed to complete the construction.

Within the past several decades, Hueber-Breuer has worked on several construction projects at SU, including Eggers Hall, the College of Law, Watson Hall, Marshall Street renovations and the Pan Am Flight 103 memorial in front of the Hall of Languages, said Andrew Breuer of Hueber-Breuer.

“We’ve always had a great relationship with the university,” Breuer said.

Access to the center will not be restricted to Jewish students or members of Hillel. The facility will be available for use by other organizations, Miller said.

“It’s open to everyone,” he said. “I hope, in fact, that it brings all kinds of people in.”

Knaster agreed the center should be a welcoming environment for all in the SU and The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry community.

“I certainly encourage anyone to go there, even though most of our members are Jewish,” Miller said. “I’m extremely excited, and I can’t wait to see it.”

Published on April 3, 2003 at 12:00 pm