A plan has been approved for the construction of a museum and cultural center in the northern city of Haifa. The building will also include the Mane Katz Museum and a cultural center with a synagogue.
The building, which was approved by a subcommittee of the Interior Ministry's committee for planning and construction in the Haifa district, is slated to spread over an area of about 2.5 acres between Yeffe Nof and Henrietta Szold Streets.
The building itself is set to measure some 5,000 square meters (53,819 square feet) in size, and according to the plan it will be built on a slope so that most of the constructed area will be lower than Yeffe Nof Street.
The building will be planned by the Hayutin architect's office, whose bid won an open architects' competition for the planning of the building.
"The building will include a museum with internal and external display areas, a Judaica display, workshop rooms, a library and storerooms," an Interior Ministry official said. "Part of the building designed for a cultural center will include a synagogue named after Prophet Elijah.
"The building includes a joint wing of an entrance and lobby, a conference hall for about 250 people and a cafeteria. Each of the diverse activity wings will operate separately as well."
Tenants of two bordering plots filed objections against the plan. Their main objection focused on the claim that the plan would harm their quality of living, particularly in terms of comfortable access by car and foot, privacy and quietness. They also said that the planned building would block the view from their assets, which may lead to a decrease in the property's value.
In its decision, the committee accepted the objections in regards to the accessibility and ensured convenient access to the tenants' homes, but rejected the claim that the view would be blocked.
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