The Jerusalem Municipality considered building a huge
entertainment center, to be called "Arena," near the Binyanei
Ha'uma building at the entrance to the city. The complex
would have an area of 25,0000 square meters (250,0000 square
feet) and more than 15,000 seats (Tel Aviv's Yad Eliyahu
Stadium, currently the largest indoor arena in Israel, has
only 10,000 seats). The new plan has aroused much ire among
the chareidi representatives on the City Council. Meanwhile
it was turned down by the full City Council, but it may be
resubmitted at a future date.
A document compiled by the plan's promoters states that
currently there is no place in Jerusalem for large events.
The promoters claim that the Arena will attract the type of
events that are generally held now in Yad Eliyahu in Tel
Aviv. They hope to build an indoor, modern hall, to be the
biggest in the Middle East. The hope is to draw
entrepreneurs, producers and visitors from all over the
world.
The Arena will be a multipurpose enclosed hall, with 8-
22,000 (depending on the configuration) seats, arranged in an
oval around a stage to be situated in the hall's center. The
hall will host "sports, meetings, exhibitions, concerts and
shows."
The plans state that, "due to Jerusalem's demographic makeup,
the audience at which such sports and entertainment events
are aimed is limited to approximately 150,000 people in
total. From this group, in recent years 6000 people a year
leave Jerusalem for other cities. The image of the city and
the difficulties involved in reaching Jerusalem from the
country's center detract from the Arena's attractiveness."
However, the authors of the document propose a solution to
the problem, and say: "These drawbacks will make it necessary
to make great efforts to market the idea;" efforts which they
claim will attract secular masses to Jerusalem for the
purpose of entertainment. However, since the production of
large events in the Arena will involve considerable financial
risk, they propose to overcome the problem by adopting a
policy whereby Arena will help guarantee the producers
against possible losses, at the expense of the taxpayers, of
course.
It will cost about $80 million to build the complex, $25
million of which is earmarked for a huge parking lot. The
money will come from "public resources," according to the
promoters, including the Jerusalem Municipality and the
Authority for the Development of Jerusalem. It should be
noted that the Jerusalem Municipality is currently undergoing
a period of economic restraint, and has a deficit of more
than half a billion shekels (more than $100 million).
UTJ representatives in the Jerusalem Municipality have
complained that the Municipality lacks the funds to build
classrooms for chareidi schools and that children are forced
to study in substandard conditions. They also claim that
Mifal Hapayis, which is supposed to subsidize a large part of
the Arena project, has been depriving the chareidi community
for years.
"The project, which is liable to take 7 years to complete,
will cause serious traffic problems in the city, and must be
reconsidered," said the chareidi representatives.
