Beachwood City Council voted unanimously on Dec. 16 to designate the former Fairmount Temple property for senior housing. 

The City of Beachwood bought the Temple property for $8 million in June, according to Cleveland.com. 

“This is such a historic property…it’s a landmark sale. It’s 17 acres in the middle of the city,” Eric Synenberg told the Beachcomber in October.  “It’s right along Fairmount Boulevard, where we have all of our other city and school property.” Synenberg was then a Beachwood City Council member; he has now been sworn in as a representative in the Ohio Legislature. 

At the time of the sale, the city had not yet decided what to do with the property. Synenberg described the potential possibilities for the plot’s development. 

“I think the idea was that just by us having control over the property, we as a city–along with input from residents–[could] determine the best possible use for the property,” he said. 

Some residents questioned the price tag of the property, but in the eyes of the city, the cost was well worth it when factoring in variables such as the location and possible utilization of the plot. Communications Manager Ben Lombardi addressed these concerns.

“I know that a small portion of residents were concerned about the cost of spending the money to purchase the temple, he said.“But the mayor and the administration worked very closely with our finance department and finance director to make sure that the purchase would not adversely affect the city’s ability to carry on with its obligations and other other project plans.”

The city sought input from residents on four potential uses of the property: arts & culture, religious institution, residential housing and sports and recreation.

“Just general outreach is how we came up with with those four options,” Lombardi said. “Then we added an option for those who didn’t feel that either of those top four options didn’t match up with their wants or needs.” 

After listening to residents at a public forum on Nov. 7, City Council members and Mayor Justin Berns decided that senior housing would be the best use of the property.

“I think that housing is the most suitable solution,” Councilwoman Ali Stern told Cleveland.com. “I think it allows us, as a city, to get a return on our investment, different from recreation spaces, which would require further investment from the city.”

According to Cleveland.com, the city will focus in the next year on soliciting proposals, selling the property and rezoning. 

There are many fond memories from the Temple from people who went to school and synagogue there.

“It was a big temple, and I remember walking those halls; as a little kid it felt like it took an especially long time for us to walk from class to the sanctuary,” Synenberg said. “We would do morning services and sing songs…It’s one of those early memories…  I do have certain strong memories of being in that building: Sunday Hebrew school and walking in those halls, from one end of the building to the other to go to services on Sunday mornings.”