TORONTO — Contrary to plans that were announced last fall at the annual meeting of the Bathurst Jewish Community Centre, the facility will remain open until June 2009 before it’s demolished to make way for a new JCC building.

“It’s really for the convenience of members,” said UJA Federation of Greater Toronto spokesperson Howard English, who added that he “wouldn’t classify [the change of plans] as a delay,” because the anticipated completion date for the redevelopment of the entire BJCC site is still November 2011.

In a Jan. 11 letter to members, Sherry Kulman, left, the BJCC’s  executive director, wrote that the change means, among other things, that they can “confidently renew” their memberships and register their children for day care from September 2008 to June 2009.

The BJCC’s summer day camp, Centre Camp, will be held on the grounds of two public schools in the Lawrence Avenue and Avenue Road area this summer, as announced in the fall.

Demolition of the 46-year-old BJCC was originally scheduled to start in January 2009. However, the federation still anticipates that the site’s redevelopment – part of the federation’s “Tomorrow” project, which includes the renovation of the Miles Nadal JCC and the construction of a new community campus is Vaughan – will be completed in November 2011, the original projected completion date.

English said the parking lot next to the Lipa Green building, which was expanded as part of the first phase of the overall project, was finished earlier than expected, allowing the original completion date to be maintained.

In the spring, work will begin on the Lipa Green building, which will undergo extensive renovations and additions, Kulman wrote.

Also, she wrote, a pavilion will be constructed as the first phase of the new JCC. The pavilion – which is expected to take a year to complete after construction begins in April – will house a seniors’ centre, a children’s centre (including day care) and BJCC administration offices. It will also serve as the temporary home of the Koffler Centre of the Arts.

The revised construction schedule will affect the cost of the project, which was estimated at $150 million in the fall. English said the estimated cost is now $160 million, of which $85 million has already been raised in cash donations.

Membership fees for the new centre have not been determined, English said.

During the JCC construction period, members will be able to use the facilities of six other clubs. In addition to the Columbus Centre, eight kilometres southwest of the BJCC, which was announced at the annual meeting, arrangements have been made at Garnet A. Williams Community Centre, the Richmond Hill Country Club, Mayfair Racquet & Fitness Clubs, the Miles Nadal JCC, and the YMCA of Greater Toronto at Bayview Avenue and Sheppard Avenue.

Partially subsidized memberships will still be honoured through the United Way, Kulman said.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, English does not anticipate further delays. “We’re committed to this schedule.”