LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The Jewish Community Center of Louisville held a ground breaking ceremony on Thursday morning for its new campus.

Jewish Community Center construction (Oct. 2020)

The JCC’s current building at the corner of Dutchmans Lane and Cannons Lane will be demolished to make way for the new building. The $42.5 million project will be slightly smaller than the current building, at 107,000 square feet.

The new building will feature an indoor swimming pool for families to take advantage of swimming lessons, exercises and water activities, year-round.

There will also be an auditorium and space specifically designed for the pre-school programs in the Early Learning Center, which will be able to accommodate around 160 kids in 12 classrooms. That’s much more than the current building can accommodate.

“We love our old building, but it’s not the building for the future,” said Sara Klein Wagner, president and CEO of JCC. “It has served us so well. And we realized several years ago that we really needed a space that would serve us for the future and our needs are changing, the community is changing, and we’re thrilled that everybody is supporting this dream.”