Building History
In 1999, the University of Arkansas Hillel began leasing a building from the University at 608 N. Storer Avenue in Fayetteville. Temple Shalom leased space in this larger building. Larger gatherings continued to take place at the neighboring Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Religious School was held every Sunday morning.
In 2004, when Temple Shalom was growing out of that building, some members from the Rogers and Bentonville area decided to form a new congregation in Bentonville, Congregation Etz Chaim, temporarily easing the need for Temple Shalom to move again to a bigger facility.
By 2005, Temple Shalom had again grown enough to need its own building. The membership included nearly 60 families. There were about 30 children attending Religious School, several of whom became Bar and Bat Mitzvah each year. The project to acquire a building for Fayetteville's first synagogue was launched headed by the synagogue's president. Certain members proposed donating seed money for the project. The temple briefly considered buying and renovating an E. Fay Jones house, but those plans fell through.
In 2006, local builder, Fadil Bayyari, a Palestinian Muslim from Springdale, Arkansas proposed to build a new building for Temple Shalom at his cost, a savings of an estimated 20% of the total cost of the project. Mr. Bayyari's offer spurred much interest in the local and national press.
In 2007 Temple Shalom purchased a little less than an acre of land at the corner of Sang Avenue and Cleveland Street to create a combined Temple Shalom and University of Arkansas Hillel home and to house a multicultural library.
On October 14, 2007, there was a ground breaking ceremony attended by religious leaders from a wide variety of faith traditions. Later that month, the former Sam Barg Hillel House at 607 Storer was sold to the University of Arkansas. The leased UA building at 608 Storer continues to serve until the new building is built and becomes habitable.
Read more about this topic: Temple Shalom Of Northwest Arkansas
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