In an open meeting last night, College representatives presented scaled-down plans for a proposed Center for Jewish Life to more than 130 students and Hanover residents.
The proposed center has encountered much resistance since last September, when residents objected to the project's size and dual purpose of serving Jewish students and the Upper Valley's Jewish community.
At the meeting, held at the Christ Church, College officials distributed handouts of the proposed floor-plan, a traffic impact study and a letter to Occom residents from College Council Cary Clark explaining the College's relationship to the Upper Valley's Jewish community.
Although the center was originally designed as a 13,000 square foot, two-story structure, the modified plans call for a one-story building of 11,640 square feet, only 5,500 of which will be above ground.
"There has been a lot of thought put into alternatives. We feel at this point this represents the best of our thinking," Provost Bruce Pipes said.
On Nov.19, the Occom Pond Neighborhood Preservation Association sent a petition signed by more than 70 residents to College President James Freedman expressing concerns that the center's size would create traffic problems in the residential area.
"We do have the right to expect the College to be a good neighbor and to do all in its power to maintain the unique character and the safety of this prime residential and recreational area," the petitioners wrote.
College Rabbi Daniel Siegel said although the center will serve the entire Upper Valley, it will not disrupt life in the Occom Pond neighborhood.
"We're talking about a total constituency that is smaller than the student constituency of Aquinas House by itself," Siegel said.
After the College's presentation, Bruce Pacht, chairman of the Foundation for Jewish Life at Dartmouth, opened the floor for questions from the crowd but received no negative feedback.
Bruce Young, a Hanover resident who attended the meeting, commended the College's efforts to unite the College and the community and move foward together with the project.
The College's Jewish community has been talking about the center for a few years. The center will replace the smaller Hillel House located on Summer Street, just south of the Leverone Field House.
The commmunity has raised approximately $1.4 million of the estimated $2.2 million needed for the project, Pipes said.
