A wave of anti-Semitism across the country means heightened concern and greater cost for Jewish community leaders in Sarasota. Now, the Jewish Federation of Manatee-Sarasota wants help in creating a safe place for community gathering.

Howard Tevlowitz, CEO of the Federation, said plans are underway to reconfigure the old Jewish Community Center into a major 40,000-square-foot venue. The organization has already raised $15 million for the project, which will include a 10,000-square-foot banquet facility, a 3,200-square-foot foyer, a catering kitchen and exhibition space. There’s also plans for an Israel center with a business incubator and accelerator.

The rebuilt center will serve the region in a host of ways, but the most important reason it is needed is because of security, Tevlowitz said. “For our Jewish community to meet around the community, we have to work with Homeland Security, and sometimes have bomb-sniffing dogs winding and checking bags,” he said. “But we have total control of our own campus.”

That’s part of why state Rep. James Buchanan, R-Venice, wants the state to chip in $500,000 for the project as well.

“Unfortunately, the stain of anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly head both in Florida and across the nation,” Buchanan said, days after a high profile Hanukkah stabbing in New York that left five injured.

“Whether it’s the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers or killings at synagogues, we need to be doing everything we can to combat anti-Semitism in any form," Buchanan said. "That’s why I believe it is more critical than ever to provide the Federation with the resources it needs to effectively secure its campus.”

The push for a larger facility and more security comes as the Jewish community grows significantly in the Greater Sarasota area. A demographic study by the Federation shows that over the last 18 years, the Jewish population here has doubled from about 17,500 people to 35,000. 

But Tevlowitz stressed the facility will be an asset for more than Sarasota’s Jewish residents. The building, which Federation leaders hope to open in 2022 or 2023, will provide a central access point for Jewish groups but will also be a venue open to all people in the area to visit and enjoy.