Community Corner
Congregation Beth Sholom Meets the Wrecking Ball
Building that housed conservative congregation for more than half a century is making way for homes.
Demolition workers started to reduce Congregation Beth Sholom to rubble during the Rosh Hashanah holiday last week.
The building, at 315 Roosevelt Blvd. and East Park Avenue in Long Beach, housed the conservative congregation for more than half a century when it was sold to a developer in May 2010, and three duplexes and a single-family home were proposed for the property.
"It was a financial albatross," Rabbi Johanan Bickhardt of Beth Sholom told Patch last summer about his congregation that saw a steady decline in recent decades, from about 600 to 70 worshipers.
Beth Sholom leased space at nearby Temple Emanu-El of Long Beach, a reform congregation at 455 Neptune Blvd., for about a year. But a secretary at the temple said that Beth Sholom elected not to renew its lease and may merge with a temple in Island Park.
Steve Diamond, president of Beth Sholom, was not available for comment Monday.
* Jeff Lipton contributed to this story.
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