Soto-Michigan Jewish Community Center (1934–2006) was a community center located at the corner of Soto Street and Michigan Avenue in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles. The building was notable for its architecture. It has since closed and the building was demolished in 2006.
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In 1934, when the center was established, it was located in Boyle Heights, a thriving Jewish neighborhood, and the center served the needs of the community for many years. Its main services were athletic activities and community organization. It also functioned during weekday afternoons as a Hebrew school, directed by Rabbi Moses Tolchinsky.
After World War II, the demographics of the city began to change, and by 1958 Boyle Heights was primarily a Mexican-American neighborhood. The building was sold in 1959, but continued serving as a community center. It was renamed, The All Nations Neighborhood Center. The center continued its mission as a center for neighborhood youth.
In the 1970s and early 80s, Bill Maxwell was director of the center. At his direction, the center added art-oriented services, including photography equipment and gallery space for budding local artists, in addition to the usual athletics based activities.
Architecture
The building was designed by Raphael Soriano, one of the architects selected to participate in the Case Study Houses project. Soriano received the commission as a result of his friendship with noted architectural photographer Julius Shulman.
Cultural Legacy
During the first protracted boycott of Gallo wines in the 1970s (based on their intransigence in dealing with the newly organized United Farm Workers) artist Carlos Almaraz painted a mural on the southern wall entitled "No Compre Vino Gallo" (Don't Buy Gallo Wine). The mural was painted over after some years.
Demolition
In 2006, the building, which had been empty for several years, was demolished without a permit, thus destroying forever an important work by a major architect and one of the few buildings of this stature east of the LA River. A federal agency had leased the site, and the city building department assumed incorrectly that it had no jurisdiction over development for a federally leased site.