Jerusalem municipality shelves plans to radically redevelop International Convention Center

The Jerusalem municipality has decided to shelve plans to radically redevelop the International Convention Center building in Jerusalem also known as Binyanei Ha’uma.

The building was slated to be gutted under the City Entrance project, a NIS 1.8 billion investment aimed at reinvigorating the entrance to the city with new office buildings, hotels, leisure and cultural spaces and two light rail lines.

Under the original plans, the Binyanei Ha’uma redevelopment was to see the congress hall expanded to seat 4,500 people, or 6,000 with standing room sections.

According to a report in the Haaretz daily, with the municipality’s decision to shelve the new plans, architects have been tasked with creating a new design that will see the building’s original style maintained.

The municipality’s conservation committee met last week in a fiery session to decide the fate of the building.

According to the Haaretz report, those in favor of maintaining the original building argued “conserving only a small part of the building is a crime… destroying the building would mean the erasure of a unique architectural period in Israeli history and in global architectural history.”