South Orange’s Sharey Tefilo-Israel purchases adjacent Montrose home

by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange has purchased the home adjacent to its property, on a 2.07-acre lot, for $1,275,000.

Although the synagogue has no immediate plans for the property, its officials said the purchase was an opportunity it couldn’t pass up.

“We always thought if the property were to be sold, we would love to have the opportunity to buy it,” said synagogue president Barbara Stoller. “We’re still not sure how we’ll use it. We have a lot of ideas,” she added.

The synagogue, located on four acres at 432 Scotland Rd., had already drawn up plans for a renovation and expansion when the owners of the adjacent property offered to sell it to the synagogue.

Member Herb Iris, who passed away earlier this year, had developed a friendship with the son of the owners. Before he died, he told the congregation that they might soon have the opportunity to buy the property, according to Stoller.

The house, at 128 Montrose Ave., was never put up for sale publicly.

Located in the historic Montrose section of South Orange, Sharey Tefilo-Israel has been housed in the Kip-Riker mansion since 1949. (At that time it was Temple Israel, formed in South Orange as a Reform synagogue by families who had broken from the Orthodox Sharey Tefilo. The two synagogues merged in 1982.) It now has about 1,000 members.

The board of directors agreed to sign a contract in July, but realized it would need formal approval from the congregation. They scheduled a full congregational meeting for Sept. 19. The congregation approved the purchase, and the synagogue closed on the house the following day.

Stoller said the synagogue had fielded a number of phone calls from people, both inside and outside the congregation, who want to know the synagogue’s plans for the property. “People want to know what’s going on — neighbors, everyone,” she said.

Among those expressing concern is the Montrose Park Historic District Association. The association’s concerns, provided by president Amy Dahn in a prepared statement, derive mostly from the 67-year-old house’s status as a “contributing” property to the district, which means it is “an integral component of the historic district either because it dates from a time period for which the district is significant or because it represents an architectural type, period, or method for which the defined historic district is significant,” according to the site.

The association expressed its “wish that the property remain as a one-family residence.” Among its concerns are the physical changes the synagogue might make to the property, from paving the land for parking to subdividing the lot to changing the use of the home, as well as concerns over “high-intensity lighting, increased traffic, and drainage issues.”

Prior to deciding to purchase the property, Sharey Tefilo-Israel hired an architect to draw up plans for a renovation and expansion of its existing structure that included an addition, renovation of the main rear entrance, and the restoration and reconstruction of the building’s patio.

The Historic District Association approved these changes earlier in the summer.

According to Jay Rice, a board member who served as attorney for the purchase, the congregation will try to accommodate these concerns. “We should be able to come up with something that people can feel good about — members of the congregation, neighbors, and members of the neighborhood association.”

Lynne Smilow, a congregation member and teacher in the preschool, called the purchase a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”