Construction begins on the Jewish Care Anne and Eric Smorgan Active Living Centre

A groundbreaking ceremony in May marked the beginning of construction on Jewish Care’s Anne and Eric Smorgan Active Living Centre in Caulfield.

Adjoining the existing Gary Smorgon House, the new building will offer community-focused health services and activities as part of Jewish Care’s ‘Growing for our Community’ capital campaign. Susie Ivany, co-vice president of Jewish Care, thanked all in attendance, saying: “By supporting this and our other capital campaign projects, you are part of something truly historic and instrumental in shaping the future care of our community.“

The Active Living Centre will include flexible community spaces, consulting rooms, a gym and staff offices, with the existing shul (synagogue) being moved from Gary Smorgon House to a new dedicated purpose-built space within the centre. The aim of the new centre is to better connect people through a range of social and recreational activities, cultural and spiritual services and therapies that enhance wellbeing, health and independence. Residents of Gary Smorgon House will also be better connected to the centre via a new accessible linkway.

Our overarching scheme for the centre celebrates the diversity of Jewish culture and its multifaceted identity through the use of a woven pattern symbolic of people and nature. This dynamic motif will feature throughout the interior, in contrast to the exterior’s predominantly brick palette. Overall, the building’s robust materiality responds directly to its context by reflecting the local architectural vernacular, creating a sense of welcome familiarity for all who use and visit the centre.

Members of the Jack and Smorgon Families Foundation – including Jack, Val, and Vicki Smorgon