KU Hillel now at home in downtown Lawrence

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The new KU Hillel headquarters is a bit farther from campus than the old house was, but it is far more visible and useful, leaders say.

To celebrate the downtown digs, KU Hillel will host a grand opening on Valentine’s Day. (See below for details.)

Executive Director Jay Lewis said KU Hillel’s original house at 940 Mississippi St. might have seemed “comfy and quaint, but it didn’t instill a sense of pride … It didn’t match the energy and enthusiasm of Jewish life on campus. This place is more representative of Jewish life at KU and of Hillel.”

Lewis and the board of directors began looking for a replacement for the house five years ago, Lewis said. A couple of potential near-campus sites didn’t pan out, but a space on the first floor of the newly built Hobbs Building one block east of bustling Massachusetts Street did.

KU Hillel moved in around Thanksgiving, Lewis said, and staffers are still unpacking boxes and decorating the office suite. The walls are painted with a muted version of KU’s crimson-blue-and-yellow color scheme.

Funds from the sale of the Mississippi Street house roughly doubled KU Hillel’s pre-existing $250,000 supporting endowment, Lewis said. The plan is to leave that alone so that the annual interest will bolster KU Hillel’s top line. Funds for the first year’s rent on the new space have been covered by a grant from the Menorah Legacy Foundation.

After the initial grant support runs out, Lewis said, KU Hillel will need to pay the rent. But he said it’s worth the fundraising effort that will entail.

“It’s the right image for us,” Lewis said. “We’re in the nicest, newest building in Lawrence, and we’re in the midst of all the downtown energy.

“We still do a huge chunk of our programming at the (Kansas) Union and at Naismith (Hall) and other places on campus, but we can do a certain amount of programs here. It’s a better base of operations for our student leaders.”

Not only is there plenty of parking within steps of the front door, but so are many coffee shops, restaurants and stores.

Board president and local attorney Sheldon Singer is looking forward to attending directors’ meetings in the new space.
“It raises the profile of Hillel,” Singer said. “I suppose that when students came up before and we showed them the house, it was not particularly impressive. Now we will make a much better presentation to parents.”

The office suite has been named the Herb and Bonnie Buchbinder Suite in honor of the local philanthropists and supporters of KU Hillel.

Grand opening

KU Hillel Foundation will host an opening reception from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14, in its new suite of offices in the Hobbs Building, 722 New Hampshire St. in Lawrence. The community is invited to attend at no charge. There will be refreshments — maybe even champagne, said Executive Director Jay Lewis. The formal dedication and mezuzah ceremony will be at 1:30 p.m. For more information, call (785) 749-5397.

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