The latest renderings show a roughly 100,000-square-foot facility on 5.6 acres that lives up to the project’s self-description as a “game changer.” The Armory building is on the historic registry at the local, state and federal level, so the “history and integrity” of the original building has been preserved.

An elegant port cochere pays homage to the Hebrew letter shin (which means “the almighty”) as well as the menorah and the star of David. The two floors will be split about evenly into a member area and a tenant area. Scher describes the facility as like a “YMCA on steroids, with a strong cultural component.”

The member side is slated to include a full-size basketball/all-purpose court, a fitness center, an aquatic center and more. Upstairs, a running track will ring the court below it. A separate building will be constructed to house the JCC’s preschool.

The tenant/client side will include an expansive event space, which can be partitioned for smaller meetings; a health and wellness center sponsored and run by a local health facility; a Children’s Discovery Center that will promote tolerance; an area for Jewish Family Services. The JCC is currently in negotiations with a “public entity” to set aside 10,000 square feet for a visual arts center.

Throughout our visit, Scher and Ross emphasized the center’s inclusiveness, hailing it as an asset for the entire community.

The JCC has raised $16.5 million in just over a year. Ross and Scher are energized by the outpouring of support. “It’s a project that literally everyone has embraced,” Ross said. “In the three years we’ve been working at this, we’ve not encountered a single detractor, I think because it’s so pure.”