John Shearer: B’nai Zion Building Scheduled To Be Razed Is Example Of Unique 1970s Architecture

Chattanoogans recently heard about changing economic, residential and religious plans several days ago when developer Ethan Collier won planning commission approval for 25 townhomes on the site of the B’nai Zion synagogue facility at 114 McBrien Road.

 

The move, which still must be approved by the Chattanooga City Council, came about after B’nai Zion officials learned their building has structural issues.

As a result, the congregation is looking at alternative plans for gathering and worship, according to a statement by officials when the development plans were announced.

 

I had never actually seen the building before, or don’t recall it if I had passed it, so after seeing the news, decided to go by and look at it and try to get some pictures. I also looked up some historical information at the Chattanooga Public Library.

 

The building, which is located in the area of McBrien Road between Brainerd Road and Interstate 24, was dedicated in March 1975 and definitely gives off some 1970s architectural vibes, even as a religious building.

 

Completely covered in tan brick, it has a minimal number of windows, although three nice-looking stained-glass ones can be seen from McBrien Road. To me it almost looks like some of the art museums that were built around the country about this time on areas where they could be surrounded by grass.

 

It also favors the concrete brutalist style popular about this time and that can be found on buildings ranging from the Chattanooga Public Library downtown to Big Ridge Elementary.

 

When I was there on Wednesday trying to take pictures of the building from the outer edge, it was taped off and some pre-demolition work appeared to already be taking place.

 

Although the plans apparently changed from the original conception, the synagogue was designed by Selmon T. Franklin Associates, which has designed countless Chattanooga buildings over the years.

 

In 1969, the congregation – which practices middle-of-the-road Conservative Judaism – acquired several acres that were part of the original land purchased in 1957 for the Jewish Community Center.

 

The JCC, which was visible from the freeway for years, opened in 1962 in a mid-century-style recreational and gathering complex also designed by Selmon T. Franklin Associates. It initially had everything from swim and baseball programs to civil rights speaking programs during the turbulent 1960s.

 

Now, much of the former JCC facility is used by the First Church of the Nazarene, although the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga still uses part of the old grounds off North Terrace Road. The two religious communities have also combined for community outreach events in recent years.

 

The previous Jewish Community Center had opened only about 10 years earlier at 511 E. Fourth Street near Georgia Avenue in a Bianculli, Palm and Purnell-designed facility where an old home once resided in by Coca-Cola bottling magnate J.T. Lupton was. 

 

B’nai Zion had decided to move from its traditional Vine Street facility dating to 1931 and designed by William Crutchfield for a variety of reasons. As mentioned in a brochure promoting the new facility and still on file at the library, officials said the Vine Street synagogue was no longer near where many of its members lived, there was no room to build needed educational and other supportive facilities, and UTC was encroaching on it.

 

A new facility in what was then about the most popular and bustling suburban area of town – Brainerd -- had plenty of room for parking and construction of all the needed facilities, and it would be next to the Jewish Community Center.

 

As a result, the new B’nai Zion synagogue was built, and the former one on Vine Street was later acquired by UTC and used for several years. It was eventually torn down in a move that some might consider a loss in terms of being an important tangible reminder of local Jewish and architectural history.  

 

The new B’nai Zion synagogue was dedicated March 14-16, 1975. The keynote speaker was Dr. Harry Epstein of Atlanta, who had also dedicated the Vine Street synagogue more than 40 years earlier.

 

Also attending or scheduled to attend the 1975 event along with the excited B’nai Zion members were Congresswoman Marilyn Lloyd, Chattanooga Mayor Robert Kirk Walker and County Judge (now County Mayor) Don Moore.

 

The rabbi of B’nai Zion in 1975 was Moshe Frankel.

 

Forty six years later, the congregation is looking for a new home again. As the interim B’nai Zion rabbi, Hillel Norry, wrote in an April 28 blog post at the congregation’s website, the efforts to find a new home could be equated to Abraham. B’nai Zion might be temporarily wandering, but they have managed to find some permanence in Chattanooga, Rabbi Norry said.

 

“Our synagogue is still travelling. We are still ‘walking the length of the country.’ That’s OK. It was part of Abraham’s story, and it is a part of ours. Wherever we may come to plant our future ‘orchard,’ we have already planted deep roots,” the rabbi wrote. 

 

“Our people, and the part we play in our community, are more foundational than our address. They are our ‘place’ of connection with each other, the larger community, God, and Israel. They are our own sustaining well.”

 

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Jcshearer2@comcast.net