By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

AMBERLEY VILLAGE - In a surprise move, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati announced Monday it has dropped a proposal to build a community center on property straddling Amberley Village and Reading.

The discovery of a high concentration of methane gas on the Amberley portion of the property will force the Jewish Federation to look for another site for its new community center, said Rabbi Michael Zedek, the organization's CEO.

Environmental engineers recently determined it would cost $1.8 million to $3.8 million to eliminate the methane gas from the site. That high cost eliminates that site as a possibility, Zedek said.

Amberley had used about two acres on the site for composting until 1990. The methane gas comes from the decomposition of branches and other compost material.

The environmental report caught Jewish Federation officials off guard, he said.

"It was a surprise and a very great disappointment," Zedek said.

The Jewish Federation had hoped to build the community center, which will include a gym, fitness center, indoor swimming pool and more than six acres of athletic fields, on the 62-acre hilltop site between Hill Street, Ridge Road and the Ronald Reagan Highway.

The Jewish Federation has worked with Reading and Amberley Village for a year to lay the groundwork for the community center project, which will cost $25 million to $30 million.

If the plan had worked out, the Jewish Federation would have bought 35 acres in Reading from several private property owners and 27 acres from Amberley Village.

Many Reading and Amberley officials and residents supported the project because of the recreational benefits it would have brought to both communities and because 70 percent of the site would have remained green space. Athletic teams of Reading and Mount Notre Dame high schools also would have been able to use the community center.

Amberley Village Mayor Robert Stewart and Reading Mayor Earl Schmidt said they were disappointed the community center won't be built on the site.

"We were really looking forward to it," Stewart said.

Zedek said other sites will be considered for the new community center, but he declined to identify them.

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E-mail skemme@enquirer.com