Two years after Chabad of Athens bought the historic Camak House on Meigs Street, plans for the renovation and restoration of the property are now moving along. The organization raised $2.3 million from donations to buy the 7,500-square foot Federal-style house and surrounding 2.2 acres.
Rabbi Michoel Refson, who co-founded Chabad of Athens with his wife Chana in 2005, said they are planning for “a campus to engage the whole community. It’s going to be a Jewish center for students and Athens residents.”
The couple will live in the main building with their children—the first family to do so since 1947, when the Camak family sold the house to a Masonic Lodge. James Camak, a University of Georgia mathematics teacher, built the house in 1834, with a basement housing the family’s enslaved people.
“We’re honored to be custodians of Athens’ history,” Refson said. “There’s a darker part of the history of the house, with the basement having its original walls and floors. We’ll be starting a new chapter for the house.”
The Camak House needs some attention and restoration, he said, given that 30 years have passed since anyone occupied it. It last served as the law offices of John Barrow, Gene Mac Winburn and Lamar Lewis. E+E Architecture and Athens Building Co. have been engaged for that work.
In addition to the main building, the Refsons plan to work with their hired professionals and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, which holds a covenant on the property, to create two outbuildings that will be close to Hancock Avenue. Refson wants to build a synagogue and facilities not just for the 2,000 or so Jewish students at UGA, but also for members of the larger Jewish community, who number about 1,000.
“We’ve managed to live in a very small space,” he says. “We’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing in a bigger facility.”
Chabad of Athens already offers a lot of activities involving students, such as Torah classes, Israel education, a weekly kosher dinner on Tuesday, one-on-one-study and a Shabbat, or Sabbath, dinner Friday nights. Refson would like to host a diverse group of people to share meals, have events and celebrate holidays.
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