page_title: B'nai Jacob Synagogue (Ottumwa, Iowa)
section_title: Building
hierarchical_section_title: B'nai Jacob Synagogue (Ottumwa, Iowa) / Building
caption_attribution_description: English: The interior of B'nai Jacob Synagogue in Ottumwa, Iowa, from the north looking toward the Bimah with the Torah ark behind it and the former women's balcony (mechitza) above. When the synagogue was built in 1915, the bimah was in the center of the room, directly below the chandelier.
context_page_description: B'nai Jacob Synagogue is a Conservative congregation in Ottumwa, Iowa. Established in 1898, it was originally Orthodox. It constructed its current synagogue building in 1915, and joined the Conservative movement in the 1950s. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
context_section_description: B'nai Jacob's Renaissance or Deco Vernacular synagogue building at 529 East Main Street (at Union Street) was constructed in 1915. The architect was George M. Kerns and L.T. Chrisman and Company was the contractor. The exterior is brick, with an addition in the back holding a kitchen and social hall, built some time in the 1950s.
  As originally built, the bimah was in the center of the sanctuary, but in an earlier modernization of the building, the central bimah was removed. The woodwork around the Torah ark is original, as is the 7-branched menorah in front of the ark. The ark doors and interior, however, are not original.
  The sanctuary features a woman's gallery against the south-west wall, built over the front entrance foyer and classroom, although it is rarely used. In traditional Judaism, women were seated separately from men, separated by a mechitza which frequently took the form of a balcony. The separation of men and women at B'nai Jacob ended when one woman's health problems prevented her from climbing the stairs to the balcony.
  The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 10, 2004 (reference number 4000815), and underwent major historic restoration in 2004–2005.
  In February 2019 the building was donated to the American Gothic Performing Arts Festival and renamed Temple of Creative Arts, to be used as meeting and performance space.
caption: The sanctuary as seen from the North corner, with the Torah ark at the left, the reader's desk in the center, and the women's balcony at the upper right. As originally built, the bimah was centered below the chandelier.
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