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Take me out to the synagogue

133-year-old shul building in South Bend, Indiana, finds new life as part of a minor league baseball complex

By JTA 16 May 2014, 9:35 am

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This Friday, at the 113-year old B’nai Yisrael Synagogue in South Bend, Ind., local officials will gather to dedicate a plaque denoting the building as a historic landmark. Nothing so unusual about that.

Somewhat more unusual is that afterwards, attendees can stick around the shul to shop for South Bend Silver Hawks caps, jerseys or even flip flops.

That’s because the building, which had been vacant since the congregation relocated in 1990, has been renovated and incorporated into the city’s Four Winds Field minor league baseball complex. It now serves as the home team’s gift shop, called the Hawks’ Nest.

The five-minute video, above, tells the full story.