The renovation of the long-disused synagogue in Seini, in northwest Romania, and its transformation into a concert hall and Jewish museum is moving forward, with the town — which owns the building –issuing a tender for the reconstruction work.
According to the news site 2mnews-ro the costs are estimated at around €2 million, and work should be completed within 18 months.
The town — located between Satu Mare and Baie Mare — obtained ownership of the dilapidated synagogue building in 2019, and already published plans for the project, including cost estimate, in April 2021.
It said the goal was to bring back as much as possible, from an architectural standpoint, the condition of the synagogue as it was when built in 1904, but to install up-to-date tech and facilities such as modern lighting, a sound system, heating and air-conditioning, and other components.
The Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania (FEDROM), it said, had promised to donate Judaica items to form part of the museum exhibition.
The plans also call for the restoration of the synagogue’s annex, once the kosher butcher shop, into an administrative space that also would host storage, a cloakroom, restrooms, and the like. And the synagogue’s yard is to be restored as a small public park with paths, benches and a fountain.
See YouTube video footage of the synagogue from 2016, by Skywalker Film:
According to 2mnews-ro, under communism in 1984 the FEDROM sold the synagogue to a local cooperative which used it as a warehouse. The cooperative sold it to a private person in 1998, and the municipality purchased it in 2019 after this owner’s death.
The Jewish community in Seini dated from the late 18th century, and the town became a major centre of Jewish printing in the first half of the 20th century. Its Jewish population of around 615 people were deported to Auschwitz in 1944; some survived and reestablished the community after the war, but virtually all eventually emigrated.
See the plans for the restoration published by the city in 2021
Read the article about the tender and restoration plans on 2mnews-ro
Read a brief history on the Seini Jewish community in the Yivo Encyclopedia