KI provides elevator access to all levels of the Synagogue building to assist any congregants needing such access.
Please enter the street-level lobby that is located at the end of the path in between the building and the Ina Sue Perlmutter Garden, which you can reach from Harvard Street without having to negotiate any stairs. If you park in the Town of Brookline's Fuller Street parking lot, proceed to Harvard Street, turn right towards KI, and turn into the walkway with the garden to your right. Then once in the lobby, turn right to get to the elevator.
If you wish to attend minyan in the Rabb Chapel, to visit the nursery school classrooms, or to attend a function in Landers Hall, take the elevator to the Lower Level. Otherwise, you can take it up to go to the Sanctuary, or administrative and Clergy offices. On Shabbat, the elevator is set to automatically stop at each floor.
We are fortunate to be able to utilize a technologically advanced , space-saving, cost-effective elevator which received code approvals for use in many areas of North America in February of 2004. ISIS is a geared traction system which saves space and excavation work because it does not require a machine room.
Some Building History:
Congregation Kehillath Israel began in 1915 as a minyan conducting services in a private Brookline residence. The membership grew and was formally chartered in 1917. When the synagogue building was commissioned in the 1920?s, then dedicated upon completion in 1925, there was absolutely no handicapped accessibility. When the school and community building was built in 1928, and when the enclosed passageway between the sanctuary and the auditorium was built in 1958, there still was no handicapped accessibility.
For several decades, the Congregation?s leaders tried to remedy the situation. Faced with a complicated facility which has multiple floor levels and numerous flights of stairs to navigate the building, it remained crystal clear that there is no easy or reasonably affordable solution to this problem.
An Access Task Force was formed in 1999. Members of the Task Force worked tirelessly to seek out options to make structural accommodations for handicapped accessibility and to seek out sources of funding. Planning and costs were obstacles to timely structural changes to remove barriers to physically disabled members and friends of the synagogue.
In February of 2000, a major commitment was made by KI life-trustee Hannah Quint to fund an elevator for the synagogue. This gift gave the Congregation the courage and confidence to proceed. In March of 2000, a commitment to pursue the problem with renewed vigor was made. Lay and professional leaders of the Congregation co-signed the "Commitment Form" of the National Organization on Disability in Washington, D.C. The form stated that ? ? our Congregation is endeavoring to remove barriers of architecture, communications and attitude that exclude people with disabilities from full and active participation. People, with and without disabilities, are encouraged in our Congregation to practice their faith and use their gifts and talents in worship, service, study and leadership.?
In May of 2000, a major gift from the family of Harry Kraft, zichrono livracha (may his memory be a blessing), on the occasion of his 25th Yahrtzeit, enabled the Congregation to commission a Master Plan. The Master Plan was completed by Graham Gund Architects (GGA) in June of 2001, presenting the conceptual design of a structurally more welcoming synagogue facility. The drawings were created after an extensive process of interviews and open Congregational meetings in which many individuals in our community articulated their priorities and dreams for the Synagogue.
The Master Plan offers a dramatic solution to the entire facility, with cost estimates to achieve Harvard Street access to the Sanctuary, Auditorium, Landers Hall, the Rabb Chapel, and the Religious and Nursery School spaces along Williams Street, ranging from $1.9 to $2.4 million. Pursuing this dream was unfeasible.
A smaller project within the Master Plan goals emerged as possibly being within reach. On November 19, 2001, the Board of Trustees authorized the Access Task Force to engage Graham Gund Architects to prepare design development drawings and construction documents for the installation of an elevator in the administrative wing of the Synagogue. A few possible locations for an elevator in the administrative wing were sketched and explored. Benefits and drawbacks were discussed with staff and users of the building. The outcome of the intensive investigations, including discussions with general contractors and elevator companies, was the recommendation to construct an elevator outside the existing building between the administrative area exterior wall and the playground. Building Committee members met with representatives of elevator companies to discuss alternative locations for the elevator. The representatives concur that the construction of the elevator in the exterior location would be simpler, less disruptive to daily activities during construction, and less expensive than the other primary option that seemed possible at the time.
There were multiple cycles of bidding for the construction work, and serious efforts to bring the cost of the project down. The congregation contracted Trace Construction Company for this project, with a time-table to complete installation of the elevator in the fall of 2004, which was actually achieved in early 2005. This project does not include a new Harvard Street entrance or access to the Louis M. Epstein Auditorium. Reconstruction of the connector between the two buildings at a future point in time would need to be undertaken to achieve additional access goals.
For information about handicapped accessibility at KI, please email AccessToKI@aol.com.
Acknowledgement
The Community Access to KI logo was designed by Denise Korn in memory of her grandmother and former KI member Ricah Korn.