Is this a dream of an open beach or a planning heartache? The casino plan in Bat Galim is once again at the center of a heated public debate — between conservation, development, and the public interest…
the good
For too long, the gray elephant, this hybrid creature – privately owned public land on the seashore – has stood abandoned.
The misery of what was once an architectural gem casts a shadow over the entire city.
Well done to the leadership of the city of Haifa who are working on solving this heartache!
The bad
The residents here receive too little.
On Monday, the plan will go to the Planning and Building Committee.
I learned about the program from the media, as well as the previous program that was shelved.
This time the plan will probably come up for a vote, but the real fight will be at the district level.
What I wanted most was to completely destroy the casino building.
The structure we see today is not the original structure, and there is nothing to preserve, let alone expand it – this was also the opinion of the Sites Preservation Council.
No coastal areas are being created, and in Haifa, which borders the sea, our sea is blocked by railroad tracks and, God forbid, by electrification.
The sea is also taken for the needs of the port and IDF bases, and there are few urban beaches like in Bat Galim.
That's right – the area is privately owned.
The developer who bought the land in Lentil Stew, and held this special land hostage, knew all the restrictions on the land when he bought it.
The Haifa Municipality can offer land relocation.
Return the land here, and get building rights somewhere else. But according to the appraiser's value now, before the land zoning change.
To redeem the developer from his many years of suffering with an area that has restrictions, and petitions will certainly be filed against the plan now as well – and to give the residents of Haifa and the country another rare piece of coast.
The ugly
I can't help but comment on the visibility of the program.
A 7-story building (4 additional floors) is much too tall, but even if we go that high – at least don't build buildings on the beach in areas where they never existed!
The public building adjacent to the casino towards the pool in the proposed plan is like a skin and destroys any symmetry, and most importantly takes up more open space, and destroys the uniqueness of the casino as a single iconic building.
The construction added to the aforementioned casino is too tall, tacked on in a generic, crude manner, without paying respect to the special landmark at the intersection of the sea and the boulevard.
Without creating a view and transparency of the sea.
There is a lack of discussion on transportation and parking – where will those staying in 100 hotel rooms park?
What about the marine damage, the shifting of rocks that affect the rich environment and the sea athletes who come from all over the country to Bat Galim.
The sketch we see today needs to change.
As a child, I would go to the Bat Galim pool and I would also dive around the pool and enjoy the fish there, but I would also go diving in the Shikmona area and there were lots of fish there and suddenly they came and built the Geological Institute there and in order to build they did explosions there for drilling and that drove the fish out of the area for many years. I dived in the Shikmona area after they finished building the institute and what a wasteland it was there without a single fish. As someone who had dived there before and after, I was amazed and I am afraid that with this construction of the casino area they will also do explosions and again cause all the fish to escape in the area for many years.
The entire Bat Galim Promenade needs to be upgraded so that the stretch from Dado Beach to Gurvitz Promenade will be attractive and have a good atmosphere.
Improve free returns, clean and prevent the accumulation of sand on the boardwalk, clean the beach and sea from pollution, to maintain the smell of clean sea air, and not the smell of...
And it would be better if they continued the promenade all the way to the German colony... to allow access through or instead of the port that blocks access to the sea.
There is a lot to do in the wonderful city of Haifa.
And the city's citizens, its residents, young and old, women and men, need to be encouraged and also open the sea to the public.
The train that is blocking: There are 3 options:
1. The train sinks in a section that blocks the sea
2. Relocating the train through the Carmel Tunnels or parallel to them by cutting an additional dedicated tunnel.
3. The Sderah Tunnel _ A transfer that bypasses the existing one. Forgo the Central Hasmona and Bat Galim stations. And directly from the central Carmel Beach to the bay. With the possibility of a station in Kiryat HaMalma
Thank you for your consideration.
Nothing you say has happened and will not happen because this is Haifa, not Tel Aviv.
And the Haifa Municipality opposed, during the Klish period, the railway tunneling through the mountain, the only real option to remove its buffer from the coastline because it is clear that it is impossible to sink 4 railway lines through all of Haifa and even more along the coastline with groundwater and sea level problems.
In short, we ate it in this too, in the evacuation of the Bat Galim oil refinery, which will not move for decades, in the evacuation of the western port to the seafront, most of which will remain on paper, in the subsidence of the railway, and in the evacuation of the refineries, which has already been postponed for several years and will be postponed for another 20 years, or 30 if necessary.
And an international airport, even a small extension of the runway that was promised – did not happen either.
Haifa is eating the loonies and the center is pouring 200 billion shekels so they can have a metro like abroad.
We are fourth-class citizens.
We must build and expand, Yael Shinar, Haifa City Council member. Okay, Yael??
The area of the complex must be built and expanded at the expense of the beach adjacent to it.
I will promote and contribute to this process.
The municipality is concerned with filling the pockets of its member developers with hundreds of percent of construction and tens of millions of shekels in profit.
This is not a building for preservation, nor is it a building with Tama-38 rights.
In fact, there is no basis for granting additional construction at all, nor for a sweeping change in zoning.
Bat Galim residents lost 10 times and see "a pool open to the public"
It is absolutely clear that the hotel will take control of the pool, and will demand to manage the area in phase one and according to the Salami method.
They will put up a fence around it, not for security, but to enclose the area, like at Gordon's Pool in Tel Aviv.
The hotel will manage the pool and allow the purchase of a subscription at an exorbitant price that will keep the public away and leave it for the use of its guests.
Everything is clear, all the methods of salami are already known.
Enough of the disgrace! Open the boulevard and the promenade. Fine the developer who closed the strip for many years... and left the disgrace like that.
A horrific plan that, like the Mount Carmel Hotel, will be led by residents and will reach the National Council... which is yet another certificate of poverty for the municipality, which knows full well that what is being presented is another burden that will also take over public spaces and then perhaps be sold off again in a stew to the next developer... and God forbid it will happen again...
Ugh, the white elephant. We need to throw out this disgusting thing that's ruining the view.
What is the objection? What do you do with a useless and ugly standing stone? It's disgusting to see it.
So I understand that the Haifa Greens' position is that the plan is not good, but we also don't see you fighting at the local level as long as you are connected to the government's agenda. So you are leaving the fight for the district to discuss, meaning that someone else will take care of the residents of Haifa. Without a doubt, you are truly the knights of Haifa's sustainability…