THIS POST is the 2nd in a series of 4 excerpts from our application last week for consideration for a grant award from the National Fund for Sacred Places, a non-profit organization.
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Below the jump, this post sums up what makes our sanctuary building so special.
The significance of our building
Nowadays a casual passerby would hardly guess that a century ago, our beachside neighborhood (Venice–Ocean Park) was the second-largest center of Jewish life in Los Angeles. And that our synagogue, led by working-class immigrants, was known as “the mother organization of all congregations” in the area, as its members seeded new synagogues.
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When we dedicated our new and much bigger sanctuary 75 years ago, on this site overlooking an amusement pier that was a local economic engine, more than 2000 people attended the ceremony. In that era, our 700-seat sanctuary was regularly full.
Yet fifty years ago the pier was demolished; local kosher butcher shops have long since closed; “urban renewal” made nearby housing less affordable; and the outlawing of restricted real-estate covenants allowed Jews to move elsewhere. Mishkon’s sanctuary building is one of the few remaining local traces of that bustling era.
This building features a now-rare Classical Revival façade and a 14-window array that an expert has called “fine examples of mid-century American stained glass.” The sanctuary hall itself is defined by an airy and inspiring tied-truss roof.
Architecturally, our sanctuary building reflects its working-class immigrant community origins. The materials used evince the congregation’s limited financial resources after World War II. For example, the restrooms are small; and the ceramic tile on their walls are factory “seconds” that were preferred as being less expensive than regular ones.
Historic designation
• Designated as a local landmark by the City of Los Angeles in 2003
• Declared eligible for becoming listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to our 2003 Historic Structure Report (p. ii).
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