Temple Torat Yisrael

The closing on Torat Yisrael’s Cranston property occurred on April 27, 2012.  We have received the sales proceeds which will be used toward construction of our new East
Greenwich facility.   Over a three day period that commenced on April 23, 2012, we moved the Temple’s personal property from Cranston to East Greenwich.  We filled a storage trailer over a two day period and moved the personal property which we will need during the interim period into the East Greenwich house filling the garage and basement.  We also have stored some property at the home of Jeff and Beth Salk who volunteered a portion of their basement for our congregation’s use.  I wish to thank all the volunteers who helped pack the kitchen, the library, the office, remove the plaques and offered storage space in their homes.  The storage trailer, the use of which has been donated by Ocean State Job Lot, has been moved to our East Greenwich site.   

Our contractor has requested that the Town of East Greenwich issue a building permit for our project.  As soon as that permit is issued, construction will commence.  The contractor is still negotiating with its subcontractors to maintain the original negotiated bid amount.   The contractor estimates  that it will take 9 months to complete the building.  We should be in our new building in the beginning of 2013.  The contractor has applied for a foundation permit in order to commence construction as soon as possible.  

     Praise Tabernacle Church of Cranston has given our congregation a deposit on our building and we have official notice of their congregational approval for the purchase of the Torat Yisrael Cranston building.  The Torat Yisrael membership will convene for a special congregational meeting on Sunday, April 15th for our vote on the sale and on the loan for the new building.  All members in good standing are asked to attend and take part in this historic vote. 
     The TY Transition Team (involving our professional staff and over 20 volunteers) has prepared a time line that will ready us for the scheduled April 30th closing.  By Friday, April 20th a container truck will be brought to the Cranston property and will be filled on Monday the 23rd.
     Please note that TY events (Hug Nechamah Circle of Consolation; committee meetings, board meetings) will be held at our East Greenwich site starting on Monday, April 23rd.  
     The last Monday afternoon minyan in Cranston will take place 5:30 pm Monday, April 23rd.  
     The last Shabbat morning service to be held in Cranston will be on Shabbat, the last day of Passover, April 14th, the service that includes Yizkor.  

We are working toward completing the documentation for a bank loan to finance a portion of the building construction.   The process has been slow due to gathering the documentation our bank has requested and satisfying its lending requirements.   

Most of the remaining construction funds will be received from the sale of our Park Avenue facility with the remaining balance being funded from Capital Campaign Pledges.    

The potential purchaser of our Park Avenue facility has been seeking financing pre-approval during the past few months.    They have been issued a term sheet from their lender and are hopeful that they will have a firm mortgage commitment before the end of February.    It is difficult for a house of worship to obtain financing during this economic period, Temple Torat Yisrael included.   As soon as we have a fully executed Purchase and Sale Agreement,  a  Special Congregational Meeting will be called at which our members will vote on the sale.   Upon finalization of our bank loan, we will commence construction of our  East Greenwich building.