St. Louis Hillel Plans New Building

Dear Students, Faculty, University Staff, Parents, Alumni, and Friends of St. Louis Hillel,

On behalf of the Board of Directors and professional staff of St. Louis Hillel at Washington University, we wanted to share with you an exciting development that will go a long way toward ensuring a healthy and vibrant St. Louis Hillel for decades to come.

We are pleased to announce that St. Louis Hillel has entered into an agreement to sell the eastern portion of our property to Forsyth School, our immediate eastern neighbor on Forsyth Boulevard.  The portion being sold is the addition erected in 1966, which currently houses the lobby, auditorium, staff offices, kitchens and restrooms.  A press release announcing the sale, which will be circulated to the media this afternoon, is set forth below.

This sale will allow us to perform a long-awaited, complete renovation of our existing "house" property, along with a possible new addition, at 6300 Forsyth Boulevard.  For many years, St. Louis Hillel has sought to improve its physical facility to better serve the needs of students.  With this new development, we can fulfill our dreams and also move toward ensuring the financial future for our Hillel.  We expect that the proceeds from the sale to Forsyth will not only help to cover the cost of renovating the "house" property, but also will provide needed funds to build our endowment to enrich the lives of our students well into the future.

We will retain the addition until after Yom Kippur, but renovations to the "house" might occur as early as this summer.  Washington University in St. Louis has been a tremendous partner in connection with this opportunity and is helping us to secure transitional space on campus for our student programming and staff needs commencing October 2011.

We want to hear your thoughts and ideas concerning plans for the renovation!  We currently have 3 opportunities in place to seek the input of our students and members of the University community:

1) We will be launching a Student Survey following Spring Break with 25 chances to win 2 tickets to a St. Louis Cardinals game.

2) Student & University Community Town Hall #1:  Friday, March 25 from 12:00-1:30 pm at Hillel (Free Lunch provided)

3) Student & University Community Town Hall #2:  Tuesday, April 5 from 7:00-8:30 pm at Hillel (Free Dinner provided)

This is a tremendous step for the future of St. Louis Hillel, and we're glad that you're a part of it!

Sincerely,
Alan Bornstein
Board Chair

Jacqueline Ulin Levey
President & CEO