HARTFORD, Conn. — A building that has stood in the Congregation Beth Israel cemetery in Hartford since the late 1800s went up against the wrecking crew as it started being demolished on Wednesday morning.
A spokesperson for Congregation Beth Israel revealed the fate of the building on Tuesday. This decision has been decades in the making and will come to a conclusion at 7 a.m.
The building, known as the Deborah Chapel, was constructed in 1886 as a mortuary to prepare the dead for burial. With the first Jewish funeral homes opening in the 1940s, the Deborah Chapel was no longer needed. It has not been used as a mortuary for the last 70 years, and has been totally vacant since the early 1990s.
Open to the possibility of the removal and relocation of the building, the Congregation has had a long-standing offer since 2008 for any interested party to purchase the building for $1. Every offer brought forth by philanthropists was considered, but not one proposal included the necessary written documentation required to demonstrate adequate resources to relocate the building.
In 2019, Beth Israel pursued a demolition permit. The City of Hartford insisted that the synagogue maintain the historic building, though the congregation had no use for it. After being challenged in court and then defending an appeal, a permit was granted. The Connecticut State Attorney General’s office was then asked to intervene in December of last year by the state Historic Preservation Council. In July 2023, Attorney General William Tong agreed it was outside his jurisdiction and plans for the building’s removal were resumed.
The congregation has plans to create a memorial garden in place of the building preserving the cornerstone as a feature. Removing the building will provide additional graves that the congregation anticipates needing in the future. The congregation is donating a selection of bricks and stone from the building for a current restoration project at the Congregation’s previous synagogue building and the oldest synagogue building in the State of Connecticut, the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford.
Rabbi Michael Pincus released a statement as well:
“The Deborah Chapel was built at a time when Jews needed a place to prepare their loved ones for burial. That time has long passed. A building is a collection of bricks and stones assembled with purpose and laden with memories – it is not inherently holy – only the work that was done there gave it its holiness. We are grateful that yesterday’s bricks and stone from this building can be repurposed at Charter Oak Cultural Center for the sacred and holy work that still goes on there today.”
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