Each month nearly 20,000 visitors enter the JCC’s Beckerman/Lender Community Building to enjoy its facilities, attend a program or meeting and meet friends. Striking a balance between a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and regulating who comes and goes is an important task of JCC staff. “We want our community to feel relaxed and safe when they visit”, said Scott Cohen the JCC Executive Director. In order to help create the safe but friendly atmosphere, a new glass security wall was installed this fall. The project which was undertaken by the Facility and Security committee under the leadership of chair Evan Wyner was designed by committee member and Architect Peggy Rubens-Duhl of Fresh Architect and installed by Derby Glass Inc. The committee also benefitted from the assistance of Mike Shanbrom, the Regional Security Advisor for Greater New Haven.

The security wall and new welcome desk are constructed of intruder resistant glass and have integrated card scanners to allow access to JCC members. Visitors can easily interact with the JCC’s Welcome Desk staff to gain entry to the building.

The security wall was made possible with a grant in memory of Arthur and Yvette Eder from the Arthur Eder Family Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven. Support for JCC security improvements also comes from the State of Connecticut. Recently the JCC was the recipient of a Federal Non-profit Security Grant which will be used to further security initiatives in the facility