 After World War II , the vacant site of the former synagogue was used as a makeshift volleyball court . The volleyball court made way for a prefabricated department store building , constructed in 1959 . The department store was completely destroyed in a fire on December 31 , 1980 , and was subsequently dismantled . Despite some earlier ideas about a permanent department store building on the same spot , and a 1977 architecture competition for its design , no construction took place . Instead , the parcel was turned into a parking lot , which it remains to this day . 
