Dell Jewish Community Center celebrates grand re-opening

A center of Jewish life in Central Texas reached a milestone Monday as Shalom Austin celebrated the official grand re-opening of a renovated and expanded Dell Jewish Community Center.

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A center of Jewish life in Central Texas reached a milestone Monday as Shalom Austin celebrated the official grand re-opening of a renovated and expanded Dell Jewish Community Center.

Shalom Austin said the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation matched $6.25 million of the more than $25 million capital campaign to aid in the construction.

Dell JCC is named after Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell and his wife Susan.

The Dells joined Monday's ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration, which according to Shalom Austin, also included remarks from Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, Council Member Alison Alter, and JCC Association of North America President and CEO Doron Krakow. 

The new two-story, 37,805-square-foot Dell JCC facility has expanded to include a state-of-the-art fitness center, living room, café, education center, meeting rooms, and all-gender restrooms, according to Shalom Austin.

Shalom Austin said the grand opening happened exactly 30 years after the 40-acre campus had its first public event on what was then the future site of the JCC. 

Austin Business Journal reported in 2019 that Michael Dell was 26-years-old in 1992 when he and his wife bought the 40-acres of land where JCC would later be built and it was his first major philanthropic gift.