Danger caution - no entry to these urban sites
Ella Alexandria | Opinion column
Several columns in various media recently mentioned the poor condition of Tel Shekmona, the Crusader fortress in Ras Mia and the Hayat orchard in Haifa. No construction sites in demand areas, no areas with wonderful and rare natural values. These sites fall between the seats of interests and the centers of pressure and influence, the priorities and the concept of Haifa's urbanism. and reflect an old-fashioned approach to the city, to responsibility and to the involvement of residents in their environment.
A few words about the sites, each of which tells a different story of culture, of community, of time and place.
Tel Shekmona
Tel Shekmona, recalls the beginning of the city in the early days (roughly the Iron Age) as the seat of the Phoenicians and as a center for the crimson dye industry. A site on a seashore that connects land facilities with marine agricultural (?) facilities. Through the fortress of Ras Mia which reflects the role of the area in the Crusader period. A fort located on the path that rises from the Zebulon Valley and slides down to the coastal plain and finally, the Hayat Orchard located at the foot of Wadi Sheik, which tells a story from the 19th century about the gardens and orchards of the wealthy Arabs of the city. An orchard that corresponds in its style with Persian styles from the same period.
More about Tel Shekmona:
part of our history
All the sites are located in the urban municipal area and are very accessible in the local topography, which lacks such public areas. These sites are part of local history and heritage. They all add volume and stories that build the place, the local identity, but are not nurtured. are not known to the general public and do not constitute a component of the Haifa identity. All are neglected and "decorated" with "danger" signs. why is it happening?
Triple responsibility and no one takes responsibility
Tel Shekmona - sits on the waterfront on the edge of the Neve David neighborhood, cut off from the neighborhood by the railroad tracks and hidden inside the neglected park that embraces the well-kept strip of walking and biking trails. far from residents. On the edge of a disadvantaged neighborhood, and reflects a history of local culture in an ancient multicultural world. The site falls between the triple responsibility chairs of Haifa Municipality, the Nature and Parks Authority and the Antiquities Authority, when each of the partners has justifications and explanations for the failure to develop and maintain the site. In fact, this is a rare opportunity to leverage the site as an open space in Haifa, especially as an accessible space in a mountain city where this type of space is sorely lacking. If desired, the site can be linked to Haifa as a proud industrial city promoting Danan.
The Crusader fortress in Ras Mia
The fort sits in the grove of the boys next to the elementary school in the Romema neighborhood - and could have been a beating heart for the neighborhood of young families and for community involvement in this unique open public space - very accessible in the heart of a neighborhood that, like many neighborhoods in the city, lacks this type of space. Residents' fear of overdevelopment on the side of the lack of a clear municipal interest in the development and restoration of the site for its special local history, turned an urban asset into an urban burden of a dangerous and collapsing site, a home for fringe activities.
Chayat Orchard
Bostan Kiat deviates slightly from what is described and its public presence is greater. Its story related to the not-too-distant Arab history of the city, makes the orchard a place where contemporary discourse takes place. Local activists and non-profit organizations that established the association for Bostan Chiat have been promoting the regulation of the site for years and are conducting community activities that do not receive municipal support. The orchard, which is adjacent to the Neve David neighborhood, may have been an element of the neighborhood's identity and a quality gem accessible to this neighborhood.
More about Nahal Shikh and the Hayat orchard:
If so, it seems that the fact that the 3 sites are not in strong neighborhoods, are in disadvantaged neighborhoods or far from the public eye and above all are not at the heart of the contemporary urban Haifa story, makes it easier for the decision makers in the city to avoid treating quality surfaces. Telling a rich and broad story in time and culture about the place where we live.
Components of community resilience
A new and up-to-date vision of urbanity and community in Haifa is required. A view necessary to strengthen local identity, to develop a sense of community and belonging. I call on the Haifa Municipality and the decision makers in the city to take social-environmental community responsibility and see these (and other) properties as a sequence of beads in the urban chain, an element to be proud of in its contemporary identity. A current perception that such is necessary and requires a budgeted action plan for the restoration and maintenance of these sites. and to develop them together with the residents as a component of neighborhood and urban community resilience and to strengthen the quality of life. It is important and possible.