Shalom Park, 5007 Providence Road, was born from conversations in the early 1980s held in Charlotte’s Jewish community, which consisted of over 4,000 families at the time. Those conversations centered on the need for a shared gathering place that could serve as a hub for Jewish life in the Queen City.
The Jewish community has had a presence in Charlotte since the American Revolution. Two cousins, Abraham Moses and Solomon Simons, served as Patriots in the Revolutionary War. By 1826, North Carolina had an estimated Jewish population of 400 people.
After the Civil War, Charlotte experienced a small influx of German Jews which led to the creation of the first Jewish institutions in the city, like the Hebrew Benevolent Society. The Hebrew Benevolent Society received a charter for a Jewish burial ground for the state of North Carolina.
In the late nineteenth century, Charlotte began to industrialize rapidly. By 1903, cotton mills had sprouted throughout the city, and almost half of all the textile production in the United States happened within a hundred-mile radius of Charlotte. As large banks and department stores began to open, that growth and opportunity helped attract a new wave of Eastern European Jews to settle in Charlotte.
It wasn’t until 1895 that Shaarey Israel (Gates of Israel), Charlotte’s first Jewish congregation, was formed. That congregation would eventually become Temple Israel. By the 1920s, the city’s Jewish population had reached 350. When the Great Depression hit, Temple Israel faced financial hardship and ended up selling their building. In 1942, the city’s first reform congregation bought property on Providence Road, which would be the future home of Temple Beth El.
Temple Israel built a new synagogue on Dilworth Road in 1949. Temple Israel and Temple Beth El continued to grow as Charlotte’s Jewish community expanded from 720 people in 1937 to 2,000 people by 1960, eventually growing to 4,000 people by 1984. That growth can be attributed to the City of Charlotte’s growth into a major New South city and its attractiveness to Jewish immigrants looking for a new beginning.
As the Jewish population reached over 4,000 by the mid-1980s, there was a desire amongst Charlotte’s Jewish population to build a unified Jewish community in Charlotte. The goal was to create a place where children could receive Jewish education, where people could attend worship services, enjoy and participate in Jewish culture, and have a place where they could feel at home.
Shalom Park, a project that was seven years in the making, is the product of that desire, and it formally opened in May of 1986. Shalom Park is a 54-acre campus owned and operated by the Foundation of Shalom Park. The project was meant to happen in phases, with the first phase costing $6 million with 85,000 square feet and including the Levine Jewish Community Center and the Blumenthal Jewish Education Building. The space also brings together five Jewish community groups in the Jewish Community Center, the NC Hebrew Academy, the Charlotte Jewish Federation, Conservative Temple Israel, and Reform Temple Beth El.
The second wave of project started in 1992 when both Temples Beth El and Israel moved onto the property and continued through late 1990s and 2009. The second wave of the project was a renovation and endowment project of more than $43 million increased the space to 225,000 square feet. The new square footage included a second gym, a new fitness center, renovated offices, a renovated indoor pool, an expanded library, soccer fields, tennis facilities, a parking deck, a day camp, and the Sam Lerner Center for Cultural Arts.
Leon and Sandra Levine spearheaded the creation of Shalom Park. The Leon Levine Foundation made a $1 million gift so the Jewish Community Center was named the Leon Levine Jewish Community Center. I.D. Blumenthal was the founder of the Radiator Specialty Company. He donated funding for the Blumenthal Jewish Education Center. Shalom Park would not have been completed without the support of Martin Schneer, who was director of the Jewish Community Center at the time of construction. Marvin Bienstock, the executive director of the Charlotte Jewish Foundation, was also instrumental in the process.
The Foundation of Shalom Park is a nonprofit agency that owns and manages the properties and facilities for most of the organizations located at Shalom Park like the Charlotte Jewish Preschool, Charlotte Jewish Day School, Levine Jewish Community Center, Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, and many more organizations of the campus.
Shalom Park is also home to Margaret & Lou Schwartz Butterfly Garden Holocaust Memorial that honors the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. The sculpture was designed by local artist Paul Rousso and decorated with 6,000 ceramic butterflies created by Charlotte community, faith, and school groups. The sculpture was dedicated in May of 2011, and the garden was expanded to incorporate a seating area, an Inspirational Pathway incorporating relevant quotes, plantings, and additional butterflies were added to the sculpture.
Today, Charlotte is home to the largest Jewish community in the Carolinas. Shalom Park is still the center of Jewish life for many, not only for those in the Jewish community but for all of Charlotte Shalom Park offers several cultural, community, religious, educational, entertainment, and recreational offerings, such as film screenings presented by the Charlotte Jewish Film Festival.
