MARBLEHEAD — There's a new attraction in town. Flashier. Arriving with a big splash. And drawing lots of admirers.
And sometimes when that happens, people tend to devalue the tried-and-true, the thing they've relied on for years.
Anthony Daniels, 40, wants to remind them of what the old girl has to offer.
Daniels is the new director of the Jewish Community Center, and one of his major tasks is to reverse the flow of people leaving the center off Atlantic Avenue for the gleaming new YMCA (with three swimming pools providing the big splash) on Leggs Hill Road.
"I'm confident that if we do the right thing," Daniels says, "people are going to come back faster than they left."
In the face of competition from the new Y, the JCC has lost about 20 percent of its membership (which is now less than 6,000), according to Board President Stephen Hamelburg. "But we've got some of that back."
He cites Daniels' experience as director of the Greater Boston Business Council as proof of his ability to rescue a lagging institution.
"He just seems to be energetic," Hamelburg says. "He's passionate about the center and wants to see it thrive."
Promoting an urgent upgrade of "customer service" is Daniels' first task. As part of that push, he is also hoping to hear from members and potential members.
"I'm going to host a membership roundtable. ... I want to know what people in our service area want," he says. He has plans of his own, as well, but will hold them in abeyance until he learns what the membership thinks.
Daniels says the JCC offers terrific facilities, including its own indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a gym. Programs for infants, toddlers and preschoolers are only some of the features offered.
"We have our work cut out for us," he concedes. "The YMCA is the new talent in town. We will be working hard to bring the members back."
The JCC also offers a focus, a gathering place for Jewish people across the North Shore, he says. "The JCC was in its day the port of call for all things Jewish."
But just as the YMCA is open to all, the JCC has traditionally had a large proportion of non-Jewish members. Everyone is welcomed, Daniels says. For that matter, they can come from far and wide.
"If you can drive to Marblehead, it's worth taking a visit to see us," he says.
Openness comes naturally to the Peabody native. He was raised on stories of his hometown's legendary namesake, George Peabody, one of the first American multimillionaires and a pioneering philanthropist.
"In his day," Daniels says, "people didn't give money away." By contrast, Peabody endowed scores of educational institutions and provided for working people in both the United States and Great Britain. "If I were to idolize anybody, it would be George Peabody."
Like Peabody, Daniels began his career in banking and was previously a bank manager and vice president at Sovereign Bank. He won't be making massive donations to the JCC, but he will be in charge of the effort to raise money, sometimes reaching out to others.
Daniels lives in Dedham, but adds that "all of my friends and all of my life have been centered on the North Shore."
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