San Diego, CA (special) --Developer Peter Janopaul, who has put $5 million in escrow to purchase the Temple Beth Israel block near Balboa Park, says only the sanctuary of the historic structure can be saved and that he no longer is willing to have Congregation Ohr Shalom as an occupant of the property.

Janopaul, who has won praise for his redevelopment of the El Cortez Hotel,
told HERITAGE in a telephone interview June 25 that the economics of the
project are such that in order to save the domed sanctuary at Third and
Laurel Streets, it will be necessary to tear down the social hall and the
school building which are now part of the Beth Israel complex.

Reform Congregation Beth Israel is selling the property to Janopaul as it
prepares to move to a new and larger home in the University Towne Center
neighborhood of San Diego. Conservative Congregation Ohr Shalom, which
now meets in commercial space on Morena Boulevard, has been in
protracted discussions with Janopaul to lease the Third and Laurel
property, but the congregation's leadership has said it needs not only a
sanctuary, but the social hall, kitchen, classrooms and some other
amenities if it is to have a viable congregational program.

In telling HERITAGE that he no longer considered Ohr Shalom a potential
tenant, Janopaul blamed Stan and Laurel Schwartz, who are members of both Ohr Shalom and Beth Israel, leaders of the Jewish Historical Society of San Diego and prime advocates of preserving the Beth Israel building. Stan Schwartz also has served as Beth Israel's historian.

Janopaul said the well-known couple "took action that outraged me,"
which he characterized as "serious, egregious and unfair." Asked exactly
what he was accusing the Schwartzes of doing, he would not specify any
further than saying that they attempted to make an "end-run" around him. 
"Ask the Schwartzes," he said to HERITAGE.

Ohr Shalom president Ruben Rosental told HERITAGE that Janopaul had
made a similar non-specific complaint against the Schwartzes in an e-
mail to him. "I don't think it is fair at all," Rosental said in reference to
Janopaul's unilateral decision to terminate discussions with the
congregation.

Rosental said he does not know what the Conservative congregation will
do next about finding a new home, but said he will meet with his board
soon and "we will try to defend our interests."

The Schwartzes told HERITAGE they did not know to what action Janopaul
was referring, and rejected his charge that they did something wrong. 

"If Janopaul's idea of offering the building to another congregation were
to have credence, there would have to be a social hall and a place for
classrooms, as very few congregations could exist with just a sanctuary,"
the Schwartzes messaged HERITAGE.

"We are concerned that eliminating half the building would abrogate the
historic status that has already been achieved and at the same time render
the building useless for another congregation," they said.

"We hesitate to think that this was the plan all along, to placate the
public for a time, then in the end not to allow another congregation to use
the building. We fear that the final disposition of the sanctuary will be
that of a recreation room for the apartment complex that Janopaul plans
to build," said the Schwartzes. "If that is the case, our efforts to save
the building for its architectural and historic significance and to keep it
as a living Jewish entity will have been vain..."

Janopaul has proposed building a complex of between 150 and 200 units on
the Temple Beth Israel site, which is now zoned for only 69 units. He said
he engaged the firm of Safdie Rabines Architects to design a development
evocative of Jerusalem's Old City with "walkways and gardens, high walls
and French doors, and balconies complementary to the sanctuary."

The block would be similar to the labyrinthine streets of a souk where one
"can't stand in any one place and see clearly through the property,"
Janopual said. "You would see instead a courtyard or a tunnel."

Architect Tal Safdie said the challenge on the sloping property is to
"achieve a suitable density...and create good living--gardens, terraces,
courtyards and a sense of community." She said her firm's concept plan
provides "a lot of units with outdoor spaces." with mostly underground
parking entering the complex from 2nd Street at the bottom of the slope.

Janopaul said implementing such a vision is impossible if the social hall
of the 1926 Beth Israel complex is required to stay standing. Bruce
Coons, president of the Save Our Heritage Organization (SOHO)--on which
Janopaul sits as a member of the board of directors-- recently suggested
a possible compromise would be to maintain the outer facade of the social
hall, while demolishing its interior. 

While not accepting Coons' suggestion outright, Janopaul expressed
willingness to "look at it." Safdie said incorporating the facade would be
"an added challenge; we haven't tried yet, but we will see."

Rosental said in their early discussions, Janopaul had entertained the idea
of keeping the facade of the existing social hall and building a new
meeting and kitchen complex somewhere else in the project. In fact, said
Rosental, "when he mentioned to me the issue of sharing the kitchen with
other tenants, I mentioned the problem of kashrut. He said he understood
that well, and that he might have to have another kitchen."

Now, said the congregation president, "I don't know where he is coming
from.... Maybe he is looking for an excuse. We are being punished for
something, and we don't know what we did wrong!"

Last year, Save Our Heritage Organization, the Schwartzes and historian Alex Bevil were instrumental in persuading the California Historic Resources Commission to nominate Temple Beth Israel as eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places and the California State Register of Historic Resources. 

They did so in response to news that Congregation Beth Israel had applied
to the City of San Diego for a demolition permit -- which the
congregation's officials said later was meant only to keep its options
open as it sought to sell the property.

The state body's nomination of Beth Israel to the National Register of
Historic Places immediately extended to the property a certain measure of
protection. In effect, the action required the San Diego city government to 
consider Beth Israel's historicity before approving any application to
change the contours of the historic building.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that local governmental bodies may not
use historic designations to preclude religious organizations from tearing
down or modifying their properties. However, if the property passes into
hands of a private developer such as Janopaul, the San Diego City Council
would be required to take the historic designation into account.

The question arose last year whether Congregation Beth Israel could
legally could tear down the structure after it moves to the University
Towne Center area this fall, and then sell the cleared land to a developer.

City planner Ron Buckley told HERITAGE the law on this issue is uncertain
because the historic designation was made not by a local government but
by an arm of the state government. The Supreme Court was silent on the
issue of whether a state government is bound by the same rules that apply
to local governments.

According to Beth Israel's new president, Jerry Goldberg, the question is
irrelevant because the congregation has insisted upon preservation of the
sanctuary, though not the social hall, in its agreement with Janopaul. 

Goldberg also said that under the agreement Janopaul may reduce his $5
million offer for the property if the city does not agree to the density he
has requested. Both Goldberg and Janopaul declined to tell HERITAGE what
percentage reduction was stipulated. There were other, unsuccessful
bidders for the Beth Israel property, but given both men's silence on the
issue there was no way to compare the amount of their bids with what
Janopual might ultimately pay to Beth Israel.

If the city were to insist on Janopaul keeping the social hall intact, such a
decision would reduce the number of units he might be able to build on the
property. 

Although most people picture the domed sanctuary and its beautiful
stained glass windows when they think of Beth Israel's building, historian
Bevil suggests that from the standpoint of history the social hall is
as important, if not more, than the sanctuary.

While religious services were held in the sanctuary, the social hall served
as a center for Jewish communal activities--especially in the terrible
time of World War II and the Holocaust. Rallies, educational meetings,
efforts to support American servicemen abroad all found their expression
in the social hall which served not only Congregation Beth Israel, but the
Jewish community at large.

Bevil said that from an architectural point of view the temple is divided
into three parts--the sanctuary, the social hall, and a connecting corridor--
"but it is all one building. To say 'well, only one part is historic' is
based on a fallacy," he added. "It's like saying you have two arms and
you're right handed, so you don't need your left arm."

While the City Council is required to consider the historicity of the
building when considering any plans for its alteration, the council may
exercise its judgment whether the benefits of the new development
outweigh the importance of the old building's historicity.

This means that ultimately the question will be resolved in the political
arena, where Janopaul is not without advantages. He recently was
appointed by the City Council to the powerful Port Commission upon the
nomination of Mayor Dick Murphy, so he obviously has friends in city
government.