The Jerusalem City Council decided after a heated debate last night to freeze plans for rebuilding the Old City and its approaches. The action was taken after plans for the project were severely criticized by a consulting group of foreign architects and landscape designers. They claimed that the plans which had already been approved by the Municipality made inadequate provisions for transportation, clashed with the fundamental nature of the Old City’s architecture and lacked a central theme. Several members of the City Council concurred in the criticism. A new set of plans will be submitted for review to a group of foreign and Israeli specialists. The American architect, Louis Kahn, has been asked to draw plans for the northern slope of Government House, facing the Old City. Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem told the City Council last night that he opposed a decision made at a high government level to build a satellite city just outside of the Jerusalem municipal boundaries. Kollek said this would be a suburb of Jerusalem but outside of Jerusalem’s control.
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