The stretch of boardwalk in front of the Israel Levin Senior Center is fairly unremarkable. Tourists and locals amble by, the air smelling of sea salt and marijuana smoke. Across the pavement, an emaciated dog dozes on a sand bank, its leash looped around an office chair that has seen some dewy nights.
The low-slung building itself is equally nondescript. By the standards of colorful Venice, the deep hues of the Marc Chagall-inspired wraparound mural fit in.
But a planned renewal by The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles aims to transform the concrete beach-front building — which is owned by Federation and operated by Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles — into a one-of-a-kind Jewish destination.
“Our vision for this renovation is to create a true, multigenerational space — a contemporary beach house that will be one of the most compelling destinations for Jewish life in Los Angeles,” Jay Sanderson, Federation CEO and president, wrote in an emailed statement.
A large hall with white tiles takes up most of the square footage, adjoining a stage and office. It is home to regular Friday dinners. There are few windows to let in the warm Venice sunshine during the daytime, though.
That could change, thanks to plans submitted to the Los Angeles Office of Zoning Administration, which show a sun-drenched space that includes a rooftop deck, a kosher kitchen and a residential unit for on-site building managers. The planned renovation would add more than 1,000 square feet to the beach-front site.
A rendering of the renovated center. Courtesy of Belzberg Architects
Sanderson said in the statement that in addition to the senior services currently offered at the site, it would play host to community events, such as workshops, yoga, lectures, media exhibitions, holiday celebrations and volunteering.
Despite local support, some red tape stands between the upgraded community center and its current reality. In November, the renovation plan received unanimous approval from the Venice Neighborhood Council, but it appears to have languished for months at Los Angeles City Hall.
In December, Dana Sayles, a representative of the planning firm hired by Federation, wrote to a zoning administration official that the plan “has been sitting on a shelf in ZA’s office since June.”
“Given that the community has been so supportive of this, we are anxious to move this project forward,” she wrote.
She noted it would still require a review by the California Coastal Commission after winning approval from the city.
The official, associate zoning administrator Jack Chiang, wrote in response that the office would aim to schedule the project for a formal hearing this month.
In its application to the city for a permission called a “coastal development permit,” the planning firm, three6ixty, wrote that the project would help vitalize Jewish life on the beach front as well as the boardwalk itself.
“The Jewish institutions in the area are minimally attended and the facilities available for Jewish community gatherings are out-of-date,” it wrote. “This renovation will create a state-of-the-art facility, available as a community center for all of Venice.”
According to the permit documents, the building was originally built in 1927 as a cafe, serving for some time as a dance hall and an apartment house.
In 1964, Israel Levin gifted it to the Jewish Community Council of the Bay Cities, which later merged with Federation, under the condition that the building “consider the benefit and welfare of senior citizens as its primary purpose.”
Today, it’s flanked by a bike shop and beach-front apartments.
Kirsten Hudson, the managing director of Open Temple in Venice, said she hopes the new space will be a boon for local synagogues — but also draw in the community at large.
“Those congregations represent the people that live here and for whom it would be a much more meaningful space,” she said. “But I hope it’s something also that greater Los Angeles is interested in.
“The beach sort of has that universal appeal, and is sort of universally used in the way that other places are not,” she added.
On that point, Sanderson was optimistic: “We intend to create a space that our community deserves, in one of the most exciting areas of L.A.”
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