Watch: Confrontation between the owners of the properties on Jaffa Street and the Haifa Municipality regarding the manner of renovating the buildings for preservation
The municipality of Haifa is initiating a project to renovate the facades of buildings for preservation on Jaffa Street, but according to the property owners, they are not partners in the renovation of the facades of their properties (what is called public participation).
Watch the street panel we held with the property owners
7 minutes, full HD
Public participation in Haifa
Public participation is considered one of the most complex municipal challenges, because a municipality always strives to carry out quickly and without "getting confused", but on the other hand there are residents and property owners, some of whom are residents, who expect their opinion to be considered, in order to create the most correct solution, to their taste. The municipality of Haifa often suffers from an arrogant attitude, which ignores the users and property owners. There are many examples of this in Haifa. We at Bhai Pa strive to encourage and spur the municipality to make more effort, share more and gain satisfaction.
In the lower city there are unique buildings that are over 100 years old, the properties are impressive and designated for preservation, but the property owners claim that a contractor came and placed ugly tin gutters on the fronts of their properties, without coordination with them and with significant damage to the front of the building.
There is an administration in the lower city, which was established by the Haifa municipality, but the residents claim that the administration's employees do not maintain an effective relationship with them in everything related to the renovation project.
The contractor's representatives explained to the property owners that some of them are considered and some are not... this is how it was decided... The shocked property owners turned to Hai Fe and we went out to the area for a street panel with the property owners. Watch the 7-minute article, after which you can browse the comments.
Street panel with residents
comments
The response of the Haifa municipality:
The municipality of Haifa is carrying out a revitalization project unprecedented in scope in the lower city.
In this framework, Jaffa Street is currently being restored in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism.
The restoration of the street is being carried out as a follow-up to the works already carried out in Paris Square, the Turkish market and the port campus which dominates dozens of dunams and hundreds of historical buildings.
The works are carried out in the public areas and not in private buildings whose restoration is the responsibility of their owners.
With the intention of making it easier for the owners of the buildings and for safety reasons, it was decided as a temporary solution to hide the visible wires in the ducts that will be dismantled when the buildings are restored by their owners.
As part of the restoration of the buildings by the property owners, the infrastructure inside the buildings will be hidden according to the strict criteria defined by the municipality in relation to the restoration of buildings intended for preservation.
Any initiative on the part of the property owners to hide the infrastructure before the buildings are restored will be welcomed.
Tin gutters over Roman arches
The response of Naama Naman-Mizrachi, the district manager of the Site Preservation Council:
The installation of the communication channels on the facades of the historic buildings on Jaffa Street are a visual hazard and an unfortunate result of a lack of coordination between the various departments in the Haifa municipality.
In the municipal conservation unit, they created an orderly specification for the old commercial center there in accordance with the lines of the building and its character, locations were adjusted for the communication channels, details were determined for signage for the storefronts and balconies and the result is of course pleasing to the eye and respectful of the buildings.
Even though these are buildings in a completely different style, we thought it was right that the conservation unit issue an orderly specification parallel to that of the old shopping center that will handle the facades of these buildings: starting with the removal of all the old plumbing, air conditioners, and other hazards, go through the instructions for handling the stone facade in the doorways, windows, doors, and ironwork, and ending with the instructions for the shops on the first floor The land: treatment of the storefronts and signage.
At the conservation committee meeting that took place last Wednesday, I raised the issue of the Jaffa Street facades for discussion outside the agenda. The surprising answer was that a facade specification had already been prepared for Jaffa Street as well.
Why didn't the municipality publish the specifications for the residents?
And why does the contractor hired by the downtown manager on behalf of the municipality perform work that is not according to the specifications?
Haifa Municipality invests a lot of money and effort in the development and nurturing of the downtown. It is a shame that all this worthy effort will fall due to lack of attention and lack of coordination.
The response of Professor Yossi Ben Artzi, member of the Municipal Conservation Committee:
To the best of my knowledge, the conservation details approved for the area in general and these buildings in particular were correct and completely aesthetic. Although the conservation committee is not required to such a level of detail, and the work is done by the conservation unit in the city engineer's office, the committee trusts the unit to act correctly with the developers, architects and property owners. More than that, the committee can decide - but the question of supervision and control is the main one.
This way of moving the canals is truly horrifying, and much more serious than the question of sharing the tenants and the owners. It is clear that this is an action contrary to the conservation plans and details as approved, and therefore it is a question of supervision and enforcement, an issue in the field of conservation in which the Haifa Municipality is particularly weak.
The inspectorate should have stopped the operation immediately, called the people of the conservation unit, and ordered a different solution, which takes into account the architectural values and the design of the original building 120 years ago or more.
At the last meeting of the conservation committee, the issue was brought up by the representative of the Council for the Preservation of Heritage Sites, and it was promised to address the issue of Jaffa Street urgently.
[bs-thumbnail-listing-2 columns="4" title="Conservation of Buildings in Haifa" tag="143" count="4" pagination-show-label="0" pagination-slides-count="3" slider- animation-speed="750" slider-autoplay="1" slider-speed="3000" bs-show-desktop="1" bs-show-tablet="1" bs-show-phone="1" paginate= "slider"]