Temple B'Nai Israel (former) - New Britain, CT
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 41° 39.959 W 072° 47.412
18T E 683969 N 4615050
The former Temple B'Nai Israel was located in a building originally built as a Masonic Hall and is now the home of the New Hope at Calvary Church located at 265 W. Main Street in New Britain, CT
Waymark Code: WM17NG2
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 03/14/2023
Views: 1
The stone and brick Classical Revival style building with limestone trim was built as a Masonic Hall in 1927 to a designed by architect Walter P. Crabtree. Facing financial difficulties, is was sold in 1940 to the congregation Aheyu B’Nai Israel (Brethren Sons of Israel). Aheyu B’Nai Israel was an orthodox congregation founded in 1889 and became a conservative congregation in 1924. The building became known as the Temple B'Nai Israel. The synagogue closed in 2007 and the building was acquired by it's present owner - the New Hope at Calvary Church, a contemporary, pentecostal church affiliated with the Assemblies of God.
The symmetrical, rectangular building has a wide set of steps leading up to four, two story high, Doric columns behind which are three double bronze door entrances. Flanking the entrances are a pair of 2 by 5 pane windows covered with a starburst grill. . On the second level are five large square windows. Each pane is covered with a starburst grill. The building is covered with bricks on each side of the columns. Each side has a pair of Doric limestone piasters. Above the columns is the inscription: TEMPLE B'NAI ISRAEL.
The brick sides of the building are five bays wide. The first and fifth bays have two slender vertically oriented windows. The three bays in the center are separated by four limestone Doric piasters. Each bay has a double window with a square transom window on the lower and upper levels.
The building as listed, as Masonic Temple, on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.