It's new life for an old Jewish synagogue in Massena.

The former Adath Israel building will soon become home to the Massena Chamber of Commerce - a move that will make a big difference:

"We're going from about 15, 16 hundred square feet to about 46 hundred square feet here," explained Michael Gleason, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director.

To make room for the move though, the Chamber first had to clear out items left in storage in the synagogue building.

Friday, the group sold off pieces of history - everything from old wooden doors to old wooden desks - through a bidding process.

And there's a lot of history in these walls.

The building dates back to 1844, when it was actually built as the Emmanuel Congregational Church of Christ.

(Editor's note: A correspondent who is far better versed in the history of the church than we are points out that our description is wrong by one important word. The "Emmanuel Congregational Church of Christ" should be "Emmanuel Congregational United Church of Christ." The 'United Church of Christ' and 'Church of Christ' faiths are rather different, and the Massena church was a 'United Church of Christ.)

When the church moved out in the 1920s, Adath Israel moved in.

Last month, the Jewish congregation donated the building to the Chamber of Commerce, selling it for just one dollar.

"It's very important in the eyes of the entire congregation and what's left of the Jewish community that's here," said Adath Israel Congregation Member Miriam Catapano.

"At one time we were 40 families strong and as it kind of dwindled, the building was not being used. And we felt that we wanted it to go to a group like the Massena Chamber of Commerce. The chamber does so much for this community," she explained.

"The game plan is to use this for community events and for Chamber events. So it will be a dual purpose, also for some seminars we're working on with BOCES," Gleason said.

Officials say discussions are continuing on whether the Chamber and the Massena Business Development corporation may be combined into one organization or share services.