While most officials prefer not to comment on the once-proposed
sale of the Temple Beth El building on Jackson Avenue to the local
Salvation Army Corps, a former Temple Beth El board member said
Friday afternoon it is likely there will be no such sale.

The former board member -ða man who declined to be identified
-ðsaid he resigned from the Temple Beth El Board on Wednesday. He
did not say what precipitated his resignation.

He did say, however, that former Temple Beth El president David
Zuckerman’s term had come up very recently, and that Zuckerman
“declined another position as an officer.” There have since been
elections of officers, and the new president is Dr. Edward Epstein,
he added.

Regarding the possible sale of the building on Jackson Avenue,
“things have reached a stalemate,” he said.

“The Salvation Army was at first very interested (in the sale)
and submitted various documents,” he said, that were “not legally
binding, but showed they (the Salvation Army) was interested in the
sale.”

He said the congregation voted on the matter and gave permission
to the board to start negotiations.

Since then, however, there has been a “significant membership
change,” he said, and “things are very quiet now.”

“The best course is to assume that it is likely there will not
be a sale,” he concluded. Consequently, the congregation and Temple
Beth El officials are now looking for another new building, while
“sorting things out with the new people.”

The congregation is being forced to relocate due to financial
issues, he said, adding one major cause for the move is the cost of
heating the building on Jackson Avenue. He said there are only
about 30 active members and the building is quite large -ðtoo large
for the small group.

Currently, the temple cannot even afford the cost of maintaining
the driveway in the winter. As a result, those who use the building
cannot use the driveway and have to park on the street and walk to
the building’s entrance.

“It’s been a great loss to The Learning Center,” the former
board member said, because parents dropping off their children
there can’t drive into the driveway. The potential for someone to
get hurt in the snow-covered driveway, however, has to be
considered, he said.

Little else has been reported on the possible purchase of the
temple.

Epstein did not return a call Friday seeking comment on the
matter.

Capt. Deborah Weigner said Friday night she had no information
on the sale.

Local Salvation Army Corps officials first made their intention
to buy the building public in June, when they called a meeting
asking the public for input. Weigner said at that time The
Salvation Army was looking to buy the building, but was inviting
public discussion and brainstorming on the project.

She said that if purchased, the building would serve the same
function as their current location on Kennedy Street, but would
allow for expansion and growth, including the incorporation of new
family-oriented programs.

Weigner stressed at that time the money to buy the building
would come from Salvation Army capital funds set aside specifically
for the purchase of property, and not community funds.

The day after the story announcing the public meeting hit the
newspapers, however, neighbors of the temple at 111 Jackson Ave.,
immediately drafted and signed a petition protesting the sale.

James E. Scanlan of 103 Jackson Ave., wrote the document, which
outlined reasons he felt the move would not work. While he
initially addressed financial and adequate size concerns -ðboth for
Temple Beth El and The Salvation Army -ðScanlan also said he was
worried donations might be dropped off at the curb, the possible
use of the building as a homeless shelter or as a sanctuary for
illegal aliens. He questioned whether there would be appropriate
supervision for children and students who attend youth
programs.

“Observe the people hanging out around the current Salvation
Army building and the debris that is left. What will change when
they move to Jackson Avenue?” Scanlan wrote in the letter addressed
to Bradford Salvation Army Advisory Board Chairman Mike
Mitchell.

Fourteen other Temple Beth El neighbors signed the
letter/petition in June.

Zuckerman wrote a letter to the editor at The Era during the
same time period that detailed the reasons the temple officials
were interested in selling the building. He explained that when the
building was constructed in the early 1960s, the congregation
boasted about 300 members compared to the 30 it has today. The
drastic reduction of the congregation’s size and relative financial
support has spurred them to relocate to a smaller building that is
cheaper to maintain, he said.

Days later, the public meeting was canceled “until further
notice,” and has never been rescheduled. Officials -ðboth with
Temple Beth El and The Salvation Army -ðhave declined comment over
the months on the proposed sale.

Local captains Henry and Deborah Weigner have since referred
questions on the matter to their divisional headquarters in
Pittsburgh.

A public relations official in Pittsburgh, Jenny Canore, said
Friday there has been “no change, no progress with that issue (the
purchase of the building).” When asked whether the sale had been
put on hold or canceled, Canore replied “as far as I know,
everything remains the same.”