The proposal of Avihu Han, chairman of the Greens and a member of the city council, which was put on the agenda of the city council, on Tuesday, 23/12/20, regarding the preparation of a comprehensive conservation plan for the city of Haifa, passed with a majority of six council members against three opponents.
A comprehensive conservation plan for Haifa
In the proposal approved by the city council, it was determined that the city council will direct the Haifa city engineer to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan for Haifa, within the framework of which the buildings designated for conservation and the various limitations must be determined such as:
The prohibition of the demolition of the structure, the obligation to preserve the structure, restrictions on construction within the boundaries of the lot, a distinction between strict preservation and preservation without strict restrictions on its various definitions and, if necessary, the granting of various incentives required for the purpose of carrying out the preservation.
The language of the proposal as presented in the city council:
Why preserve?
Yigal Alon's words seem to provide the gist of the answer: "A nation that does not respect its past, the present in which it lives is poor and its future is clouded."
In recent years we have witnessed various buildings of architectural and historical value throughout Haifa that are promoted in the planning committees with demolition permits or building additions, some based on TMA 38 plans and some based on TBA (city building plan).
During the statutory period we are exposed to many buildings that the director of engineering and the local committee approve to be destroyed, even though these buildings are in preservation complexes and these buildings have a high architectural, historical and conservation value. Despite this, for puzzling reasons, a required discussion in the conservation committee is skipped and the demolition of the building is allowed.
Han, explains that this process creates serious problems for all involved:
- For an entrepreneur who bought a property and was not aware of the architectural and historical value of the property and this because the property does not appear in the existing preservation lists.
- To the municipality of Haifa, which promotes the process of destroying the building and even gives commitments to the developer that it cannot keep.
- For the residents of Haifa who may lose important historical assets, which must be preserved as part of Haifa's historical and architectural character.
Among the examples presented by Hahn in the proposal:
- Examples from the past few years we have seen in the permit applications for the house at 5 Yitzhak Boulevard, the house at 8 Nega Street, Rabbi Hamavi's house at the Margolin Wharf, the house at Ovadia Street, the house at 13 Humphrey Hubert Street, the house at 2 Rachel Street, the house at 4 Habarot Street, the house at 12 Al-Harooshi Street, The house on Halutz Street 24 houses in Hadar and many other examples.
- This problem can be solved by carrying out an overall statutory urban conservation plan based on the preparation of comprehensive conservation surveys for Haifa, at the end of which the conservation lists of the buildings and complexes that must be preserved in Haifa will be defined, where as part of the designation of the buildings for conservation, the various limitations will be defined, including the prohibition of the demolition of the building, the obligation to preserve the building and the provision of incentives Within the defined limits and even requirements for the payment of improvement levies for the conservation plan.
- In recent years, we have witnessed many municipalities that have prepared conservation plans (the Municipality of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Holon, Ramat Gan, Herzliya, Givatayim and more.
- Take as an example the conservation plan of Tel Aviv 2650 B, which defined the conservation of about 1000 buildings and sites, including hundreds of buildings for conservation with strict restrictions, while defining guidelines for the restoration of buildings and sites, the list of buildings in the conservation plan, the preparation of documentation files, the instructions of the conservation plans, etc.
The current situation in Haifa Municipality:
- Haifa Municipality has only a partial preservation list, which includes buildings and sites.
- There is a committee for the preservation of buildings.
- According to section 12 (c) of the fourth addendum, the municipal conservation committee can change the conservation list.
- Haifa Municipality does not have a statutory conservation plan.
A member of the city council, Avihu Han, told Lahi Pa:
The importance of a conservation plan for the city of Haifa is immense. The conservation situation in the city is getting worse and we are losing many historical, architectural and cultural assets. Preparing a conservation plan will stop the drift and allow the Haifa municipality to create a conservation and tourism system for future generations.
We must not forget that in the planning pipeline there are still important buildings in danger of demolition:
The house built by the architect Shmuel Rosov at 12 Habushim Street, the house at 4 Mabarot Street, the house of Rabbi Hamavi at 39 Margolin Street, the house at 5 Yitzhak Sderot, the house at 8 Nega Street, the house at 24 Halutz Street and many other important houses.
I expect the mayor to accept the task and work to prepare the conservation plan within an assertive process to save the houses, some of which are in approval processes for demolition. These approval processes must be stopped immediately. I would like to thank the council members Yael Shanar, Hila Lauper, Sophie Nakash, Eli Ben Dayan, Rabbi Dovi Hayon who supported my proposal.
The condition of a large part of the buildings that are concrete structures (not historical stone construction) is problematic and requires a deep intervention in the building including a wide use of the reconstruction method and not the preservation method. If the municipality does not define the restoration method as a permitted method for preserving a building of historical and architectural value as a "kosher" method, but only requires preservation similar to stone buildings where this is applicable, the fate of most historic concrete buildings will become dangerous buildings. In conclusion: concrete structures are not preserved but parts of them are restored. Exactly in accordance with the philosophy of concrete buildings expressed by the French architect Corbusier: "a (concrete) building as a machine". ZA, similar to cars where broken parts are replaced, so too in the concrete buildings, the intervention is in the material including the replacement of the items while preserving the essence of the materials and the architectural style. But let's not forget that restoration and not preservation are recognized. Again: concrete buildings do not preserve in the classical and traditional sense of architectural preservation. Sincerely, Dr. Rina Wasserman, Head of the Department of Conservation, Western Galilee Academy in Acre and an expert in the field of long-term concrete