The synagogue building was brick, two-storied, with a glass dome on the roof and could accommodate up to 650 people, including balconies for women. It was built with the funds of the faithful in 1897 and 1900 on Rojdestvenskaya Street, 52 (now M. Gorky Street), on the territory of the estate owned by the first chairman of the community, I. M. Frant. In 1901, a synagogue board was elected: Rabbi E. M. Perelshtein, a first-guild merchant and the synagogue's elder N. L. Rabinovich, as well as the treasurer, first-guild merchant M. I. Milman. During World War I, the Jewish population of the city increased to 9,000 due to an influx of refugees from combat zones, prompting the community leadership to open an additional 25 prayer houses, where five rabbis served. Back in the 18th century, followers of Judaism split into two socio-cultural and religious communities: Ashkenazim and Hasidim. In the early 1920s, these two communities formed in the city, holding prayer meetings separately. The synagogue was used by the Ashkenazim, whose number in 1924 was 185 people. The Hasidim, numbering no more than 60, gathered in a private house on B. Kochetovka Street, 20, and later on Pushkin Street, 1. In 1928, as part of the state policy of atheism, the Society for the Land Arrangement of Working Jews (OZET), led by atheists, called for the closure of the synagogue. By a decision of the city executive committee on September 26, 1931, the synagogue was closed, and the building was transferred to OZET and the "Shveinik" club. Later, it housed the "Dvigatel" artel, Penzoblgazstroy, and other organizations. Prayer meetings of the Jewish community were held in the apartments of the faithful. After the Great Patriotic War, the community was leased a semi-destroyed building of a guardhouse next to the synagogue. A fee was charged for the use of this 42 sq. m space until 1956. On June 9, 1991, the city executive committee decided to transfer the synagogue building to the Jewish community, but in fact, the community only took possession of it in 1993. The official opening of the synagogue and the center for Jewish culture and religion "Atikva" ("Hope") took place on December 18, 1995.