Construction of the proposed Center for Jewish Life at Dartmouth may begin as soon as the ground thaws, Associate Director of Major Gifts Karen Blum said.
The $3 million facility, which will be built in an empty lot on Occom Ridge Road near Delta Delta Delta sorority, will replace the current home of Hillel on Summer Street near Hanover High School. Hillel is the College's Jewish students' organization.
Blum said "we have certainly reached about $2.7 million in gifts and pledges."
College Rabbi Daniel Siegel said the College is "still not 100 percent sure" construction will begin as planned.
"All the money has to be pledged, including the endowment. And the inflow has to match the outflow," he said. Construction will begin "as soon as we know it matches up."
"We are getting excited," he said.Although the bulk of funding has come from Dartmouth students' parents and alumni, "the local non-alumnus Jewish community is raising money in tandem with us," Blum said. Blum said the community is trying to raise up to $250,000.
Construction of the 11,000 square-foot building will cost about $2.3 million, Blum said. Another $700,000 will be added to the College's endowment. The income from this money will pay for the Center's maintenance.
The family of Steven Roth '62, a New York City real estate developer, has pledged to foot much of the facility's bill. The family will now have the option to name the facility.
Donors who contribute more than 50 percent of a building's total cost are usually given the option of naming the facility, Director of Facilities Planning Gordie DeWitt told The Dartmouth in a previous interview.
Roth's daughter, Amanda, graduated from the College in 1993.
The Roth family was unavailable for comment.
The facility is being designed by New York City architects Kliment and Halsband, who were in charge of designing the computer science department's Sudikoff Laboratory.
