The JCC has a new cultural arts center and a big new fitness facility

The Smith-Kogod Cultural Arts Center.

Big changes are happening at the JCC, or as it’s officially known, the Pozez Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia.

The newly opened Smith-Kogod Cultural Arts Center, in front of the main building on Little River Turnpike, provides space for classes, rehearsals, and performances. A grand opening ceremony will be held in March.

The JCC's new performance space.

The JCC also has an expanded fitness center with all-new Precor exercise equipment, locker rooms, and saunas – and an outdoor fitness area with punching bags, kettlebells, and other gear.

The swimming pool was refurbished, the lobby was redone, too. The old fitness center will reopen in March as a “high-intensity interval training facility” with more equipment and a spinning studio. The J-Fit Health Club is offering a special membership discount through Feb. 14.

The new fitness center at the JCC.

To create the Smith-Kogod Cultural Arts Center, the JCC renovated and expanded the old white house that had served as the original JCC before the existing building was developed in 1990.

The Smith-Kogod Center has a big room that can be used for performances, rehearsals, book talks, group classes, and private party rentals; a room with mirrors and a removable barre for group exercise and dance classes (ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, Israeli, Bollywood, Zumba, and jazzercise); and a smaller room for art classes or meetings.

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Fairfax County has a shortage of arts venues, so the Smith-Kogod Center can help fill that gap, says Sarah Berry, arts and ideas director for the JCC.

The new building has original art, mostly by Jewish artists. There’s also an original bas relief of Moses by Salvador Dali.

The Green Room at the Smith-Kogod Center.

The JCC hosted a reception for donors in the Smith-Kogod Center in December but hasn’t scheduled any public events yet.

The JCC raised $9.5 million for the new cultural center and fitness center, with $1 million of that set aside for outreach to the community.