The Actors' Temple | synagogue, 1923_construction

 synagogue, 1923_construction

3-story synagogue completed in 1923. Designed by Sidney F. Oppenheim, it was originally called The West Side Hebrew Relief Association, and was the synagogue of choice for the entertainment industry. Many vaudeville, musical theater, television, and nightclub performers attended services there. It is now officially known as Congregation Ezrath Israel. The temple declined after World War II as actors moved to California and the neighborhood changed, going from 300 members to approximately 30 in 2009. In 2005, in order to bring in additional income, the temple started renting out dance rehearsal space to New Dance Group as well as temporarily transforming into a theater for plays. Despite these challenges, the temple continues to operate.

The facade is clad in grey brick, three bays wide. At the ground floor the wider center bay has wooden double-doors. The end bays have single-doors, all painted blue. A broad, white-painted stone band course caps the ground floor. The double-height middle section has a 4-over-2 window at the lower part, with white wooden framing; to either side is a 2-over-1 window. The upper part of the midsection has two vertically stacked 2-over-1 windows at the ends, and a large round-arched opening in the center, with a circular rose window filling the arch. All the window are stained glass, and the rose window is circumscribes a blue Star of David.

The top floor is set off by a stone cornice and has double-windows in the middle and single-windows at the outer bays. These are regular glass instead of stained glass. The facade is topped by a brick parapet with a white band course at its base, and a white stone coping on top, stepped up at the ends and center.

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