Worship Center Turned Housing: Former Temple to be Apartments with a ‘High-End Feel’

By Dylan Marsh
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — Temple Meyer-David, located at 25 Putnam Street in Claremont, New Hampshire was sold to Burpee Hill Construction on April 14, 2022.

Burpee Hill is a construction company based out of New London, and this month intends to seek permitting to turn the synagogue into a multi-family housing complex with a “high-end feel’’.

According to the city’s property records, the building, originally built in 1850, was a school house for many years before becoming a temple. A significantly-sized Jewish community in Claremont, for a number of years, had been meeting for service in the homes of its members. Shortly after the end of World War II, however, the community decided it was necessary and important to have an official meeting place. Named for 2nd Lt. Meyer Satzow and Pfc. David Blumberg, two members of the Claremont Jewish community who perished in WW2, the building was acquired in 1946.

“After a while the community grew and in the 50s and 60s when I was a kid growing up in Claremont. Eventually there were probably 60 or 70 Jewish families in town, and it was a thriving temple,” said Stephen Borofsky, founder of the Manchester law firm Borofsky, Amodeo-Vickery & Bandazian PA. “ I remember my bar mitzvah was in 1959 and there were so many people that the upstairs was completely full, probably a couple hundred people. Over the years though, Claremont didn’t really grow much ,and a lot of the families moved out and members pursued professions that required more room to grow,” said the listed former Director of the temple.

For many years there were Jewish merchants operating important businesses on Pleasant Street and the city enjoyed a vibrant Jewish population. Many long-time Claremont residents will recall stores like Ezersky’s Hardware Store ,or the Jewish butcher shop that sat near the Polish American Club. After a number of years, however, newer generations of Jewish men and women would leave the city of Claremont and it became difficult to have a minyan, a quorum of ten Jewish men or women over the age of 13 required to hold traditional public worship.

Roz Caplan, owner and president of Claremont’s Century 21 real estate agency was the last President of the Temple Meyer-David, and is considered to be largely responsible for keeping the temple and long standing traditions alive in Claremont for many years.

According to Clarmeont property records, the temple has an appraisal at $116,200 and was sold by Dolan Real Estate agent Zackary Bourque to Burpee Hill Construction LLC for a total of $75,000.

Burpee Hill Construction, owned by Bourque’s father and former Claremont resident Tony Bourque, has a goal of revamping the beautiful brick building and creating housing for the people in the area. Claremont, like many other places in New Hampshire is currently suffering from an affordable housing shortage.

“Claremont has the opportunity to make things feel alive again. We can see that especially the new chamber project, paving Pleasant street. Also the recent sale on the corner of Pleasant street,” Dolan Real Estate agent Bourque said in regard to Claremont’s recent revitalization project as well as Dub Holdings LLC’s recent purchase of 1 Pleasant Street.