A new $65 million city hall will be constructed in Jerusalem, uniting under one roof all the departments of the municipality, which are now dispersed around the city.
Part of the project’s funding will be provided by the Reichmann family of Toronto, billionaire financiers who are the developers of the Battery Park project in Manhattan.
Two members of the Reichmann family, Albert and Edward, joined President Chaim Herzog and Mayor Teddy Kollek on Thursday in laying the foundation stone for the new city hall, the Reichmann’ first major undertaking in Israel.
The new municipal building, together with another major venture being financed by a Diaspora Jew — the recently announced Mamilla Project, to be built by Ladbrokes-Hilton executive Cyril Stein of Britain — will mean a total reshaping of a substantial part of the pre-1967 border area of downtown, facing the Old City walls.
Plans call for the construction of the city hall complex at the end of Jaffa Road, opposite the New Gate of the Old City, preserving the British-built main offices of the municipality and the facades of other architecturally valuable buildings in the area.
Ron International Ltd., a Reichmann-owned subsidiary, will undertake construction and will loan the city $30 million for 20 years. The sale of properties now housing the city offices will pick up any slack in funding.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
