Ice hockey - soon in Israel?
Photo: AP
Ice hockey in Hod Hasharon
New skating rink to be built north of Tel Aviv in bid to advance winter sports
A new international level hockey and ice hockey center, the first of its kind in Israel, will be constructed in Hod Hasharon, just north of Tel Aviv, with a USD 15 million investment, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
The winter sports center will include room for 5,000 spectators. In the coming months construction work on the center is expected to begin, thanks to investment by a group of Jewish investors from the United States and Canada, represented in Israel by Arnon Shiran.
The center will feature an ice hockey skating rink, a rink for everyday skaters, and acrobatic skating. In addition, the facility will include a school for teaching ice skating. The new facility is designed to become Israel's winter sports center.
The facility is supposed to be multi-functional: Within two hours wooden planks can be placed on the ground, allowing basketball, handball, volleyball, and indoor soccer to be played.
Investors are seeking to combine Zionism and business in the project, and to advance winter sports in the country.
Hod Hasharon Mayor Hai Adiv succeeded in convincing Shiran that the town would be the best location for the project. Hod- Hasharon's advantages include, among others, its central location, its access to central roads, and its ability to promptly provide land for construction.
In November, the cornerstone will be laid in a ceremony. Construction is expected to take 14 months.
