A historic Boyle Heights synagogue will get a $15 million facelift and a second life as a multipurpose community center.
The century-old Breed Street Shul was erected in 1915 to service what was then a vibrant Jewish immigrant population in Boyle Heights. At the time, it was the largest Orthodox synagogue in the U.S. west of Chicago. The area's Jewish community has since dispersed across the city of L.A.
"This was at one time the center of Jewish life in Los Angeles, the center of Jewish life in the Western United States," said California Assembly Member Jesse Gabriel of the West Valley, who chairs the state's Legislative Jewish Caucus, in a statement outside the Shul on Tuesday. "So much of our history as a community traces back to here, Boyle Heights," he said.
The demographic makeup of the neighborhood has shifted in the years since, once home to large Armenian, Lebanese, and Black communities, and now a popular destination for Latino immigrants. "It's a reminder of our shared immigrant history," Gabriel said.
State Assembly Member Miguel Santiago, who represents Boyle Heights, noted that the significance of the Shul's renovation is anchored to its potential as a bridge between L.A.'s diverse ethnic communities.
"It really kind of has been that Mecca, where we all come and shape the way that Los Angeles is," he said.
The building began to deteriorate in the 1980s due to a combination of neglect and damage from earthquakes. It ceased holding religious services in 1996.
The current renovation plan, funded by an allocation from the state, includes converting the basement beneath the main sanctuary into offices for nonprofits, erecting a performance and meeting space in the former sanctuary, installing a permanent exhibition highlighting the history of Boyle Heights as a center for immigrant life in L.A. and a complete seismic retrofit.