Jerusalem scraps plan for promenade Ferris wheel and slides

The Jerusalem Municipality confirmed Sunday that it has scrapped controversial plans for a dwarf version of the London Eye on a promenade that links mainly Palestinian East Jerusalem with the city’s Jewish West.

The big Ferris wheel, which envisaged to be half the size of its 135-meter (443 feet) British inspiration, was proposed for a point on the western section of the Armon Hanatziv Promenade, near Hebron Road in south Jerusalem.

A spokesperson further confirmed that the idea of a series of slides going down the slopes had also been thrown out.

In a statement, the municipality said that together with the Jerusalem Development Authority, it was currently working on final plans for the upgrading and development of the various sections that make up the promenade, known to Israelis by its Hebrew name, the “tayelet.”

The right-wing City of David Foundation is currently building a visitors’ center at the facility, close to the entrance to the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, from where it plans to build a long zipline. Shortly before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, it completed a campsite in the Peace Forest, just below the western end of the promenade, close to the neighborhood of Abu Tor.